Sheila Sims Iding
It’s all about how you look at things. We’ve all heard that. Even more we’ve all lived that. One of my favorite quotes is “We can complain that the roses have thorns or celebrate that the thorns have roses.”. (unknown). I am reminded of this every snow storm. I am settled in for a lazy snow day and Pat is running crazy clearing snow from car after car at the dealership. Two different perspectives.
I have been reminded of the importance of perspectives several times in recent weeks. I had to have an emergency root canal a few Sundays ago. The pain was so intense. My tooth was so infected, the dentist drilled for one hour on a Sunday afternoon trying to make it better. I was telling my friend about the ordeal the next Monday morning still wincing at the pain of it all and then I realized I was talking to my friend who needed hip replacement surgery because she was in so much pain for so long. She not only hurt to walk…she hurt to stand, to sleep, to move…to not move. I had a toothache. She had a debilitating hip waiting for major surgery. Perspective.
Turns out my tooth was so bad it needed even more work. I was supposed to have the root canal finished this afternoon. (Turned out it was canceled) But before it was canceled I dreaded it. After school I would head to the dentist for shots and drilling and more pain inflicted on a still painful tooth. Then afterwards…to make matters even worse…I had to stop by the store to pick up something for dinner. It’s not what I wanted to do after school today. Then I realized what my niece would be doing at the same time today. She would be going for another radiation treatment for her cancer. And she will be stopping by the store too. Not for dinner. For a pretty scarf to wear in her damaged hair. The good news…the GREAT news…my niece will be absolutely fine. In just three more weeks of treatment she will be cancer free. But I don’t have to wait 3 weeks. I will be pain free the minute my tooth is fixed. We will both be okay. I get a shot for toothache. She gets radiation for cancer. I pick up some chicken. She picks up a scarf. Perspective.
Last week I had another eye appointment. Another follow-up to the retina damage and the optic nerve issue. My vision hadn’t really improved. A test revealed another blind spot. And the 6 months time frame that I had to regain my vision had passed. The 6-month deadline had come and gone…but the vision issue hadn’t. It still remains. I was feeling a bit dejected until I came face to face and eye to eye with a woman I learned has stage four cancer. Really? I am dejected about a “blind spot” upsetting my life…and she is fighting for her life. She seemed strong and sure and full of fight. She even seemed to have a sparkle in her eye. So why would I think to worry about my eye? Perspective.
Last week I got that scary email from Fr. Brian in China. “Tim is at the hospital and will need IV medications.” He had dehydration issues once before in China when the foreign food becomes foreign to his system. He gets sick. Maybe food poisoning. But this one was different. This was an infection. He needed hydrating IV’s and a couple of days of antibiotic IV’s. His white blood count was way too high and his body was way too weak. This one was scary. The frightening part was that he was alone in his apartment. A Chinese friend took him to the hospital each day but he was alone at his apartment. Just hours before he was too weak to stand and now he had to go out and get food and liquids to gain back strength. And I wished China wasn’t so far away. I wished he was home or a city away or a state away or…even several states away. Just not half-way around the world. And then I realized distance took away my ability to help Tim but it didn’t take away Tim. My sister lost Andy. What would she give to be worried about Andy in a hospital so far away? Tim was half away around the world but that is still closer than heaven…no matter how you look at it. Perspective.
I think it’s okay to hurt and to worry and to be upset. We all do those things. We are human. We hurt. We worry. We get upset. My dad always said “Sheila Jean…just remember…somebody somewhere has it worse off than you.” These past few weeks his words…and those special somebody-s somewhere…have given me a new look on living, a new look on life, a new look on perspective.