Sunday Morning. Human Spirit. Gratitude.

~ Live & Learn

turn-pages-gif

You wake up this morning. You may be a bit stiff from your work-out yesterday. Or still recovering from your long work week. But you can and do get up and get on with your morning.

The first thing you have to get used to is total helplessness. You’re dependent on somebody else for everything. If you want your ear scratched, you have to ask. You soon learn that you can’t ask every time the problem arises, or you’d be asking the whole day. And you remember all too vividly the itch that assailed you in the middle of the night before last, the one that wasn’t worth waking somebody up to relieve.

You grab your cup of coffee and your book.  Or the morning paper. You turn the pages.

Another personal loss, for me, is books. The act of writing has been distorted, yes, but not as much as the act of reading, which was always a solitary pleasure. Since somebody else has to turn the pages, the solitude is over. Few works that I want to read are available as audiobooks. The alternative, of my not being able to read at all if there’s mental degeneration, is horrific.

Q: Where do you find an invalid? A: Where you left him. His words. So much truth, so much spirit.

I’ve been immobilized for five years. In addition to losing incalculable personal pleasures, like daily walks with my wife, I also lost a musical career as a jazz and classical guitarist, though I still teach a few advanced students. I published several books of fiction and nonfiction before the disease hit, but my days of roaming the world as a journalist are over. Now I write by dictation. […]

You find yourself, unavoidably, living in the past. Happiness isn’t is, but was. You try not to contemplate the future too much. Nor the future of the person you love.

Read Anthony Weller’s inspirational essay in wsj.com: Paralyzed From the Neck Down.

Find his bio and web page here: AnthonyWeller.com

Photo credit: weheartit.com

21 thoughts on “Sunday Morning. Human Spirit. Gratitude.”

  4. Just talked to a friend last night whose husband has just been diagnosed with lung cancer. She is paralyzed…by fear. She asked me, “Why this? Why now?” I’m struck dumb; My heart aches.Must. Live. Every. Moment.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  5. The simple truth that we complicate with caveats all over the place when we’re healthy and stupid. There is no greater gift than having the moments in your day that are all yours to feel with, act upon, react to and live fully within.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

  10. This was sad. Necessary, eye-opening, inspirational. But terribly sad. For it could be any of us. Any time. We adjust any way we can. And maybe — just maybe — it opens our eyes and makes us pay attention to every day a little closer. For it could be us. Any moment.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  11. Suffering is really a doorway to our Inner transformation. It is only suffering that wakes us up from the stupor of being identified as a “character” in a story that we weave in our mental space alone, and which has nothing to do with Reality. It strips us off of all the transient things we hoard around us as/for security and happiness. It leaves us no choice but to “look within” for answers.
    Suffering is a pull from within by our real Self – Happiness itself. (Paraphrasing Rupert Spira)

    Anyone who has seen Jim Carrey’s movie – “The Truman Show”, will find an analogy of what is being said here.

    Let’s be grateful for All that life offers us. Both happiness and suffering. That is true Acceptance. It is in fact, our very resistance to the way things are, that causes suffering.

    And when we stop resisting, and use our genuine feelings of sadness or anger at a situation as a fuel for inner transformation, it deepens our compassion and empathy for others instead of leaving us bitter and resentful for the seeming “unfairness” of life.

    This insight is called “making milk from thorns” by Richard Rose(spiritual teacher; http://tatfoundation.org). This attitude of “Look Towards Light” has truly helped me grow softer as a human being.
    And i hope it is of some value to others..

    Love and Light,
    K.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thank you for sharing K. Your thoughts on acceptance and inner transformation remind me of:

      We spend so much time wanting to be seen and named. Yet the spirit doesn’t know it’s being spiritual anymore that water rushing knows it’s a stream, and the heart doesn’t know it’s expanding with compassion anymore than a hawk spreading its wings knows it’s being a hawk. Nor does someone acting out of love often realize they are being kind. From an early age, we are taught that to live fully is to be accepted, and to be accepted, we need to be seen. So we base success and even love on the effort to be seen, on how much we stand out. However, the often painful truth we discover along the way is that to survive in an inner way that matters- that keeps us connected to all that has ever lived and is living- we sorely need to know how to be accepting. When we do this, we no longer need to be different to be valued and no longer need to be accepted to know love. In short, we no longer need an audience to fly. We simply have to extend our sincerity to each abiding day and we will be in accord with all that is valuable. For giving attention opens us to love. So wake me by accepting me, and the world will sprout us up like grass.

      ~ Mark Nepo, The Book of Awakening: Having the Life You Want by Being Present to the Life

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  12. Thanks for the quote by Mark Nepo, Dave! I went ahead and bought his book on kindle.
    We all can use reminders at times, for being present – whatever way the moment unfolds, and not allow “forgetfulness” and personal habits of conditioning to steal the precious moment.
    K.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a Reply