Lessons From the Fall

Excerpt from Daily Cures, Wisdom for Healthy Aging by Connie Mason Michaelis

Lessons from the Fall

(The next four articles were written after a disastrous fall I had while on vacation in Michigan. While recovering, I used the time to learn some valuable lessons about vulnerability.)

I took a shortcut down a flight of stairs, ending up head down on concrete.  The left side of my body took a beating, which honestly saved me from a head injury, and for that, I am grateful.  Several fractured bones in my back and leg are providing me with a mandatory six-week vacation from my normal activities. I had a very wise father-in-law who facetiously, but truthfully said, “If you’re not going to learn from your mistakes, there is no use making them.” My mistake at that moment was not paying attention and going too fast. I’m grateful it only lasted six weeks — I could easily be in a rehab hospital relearning how to eat instead of writing this column. So I will take this time to focus on the lessons I’ve been given through the fall.

Lesson number one: Gratefulness is good medicine. The truth is, there is always someone else who has it worse, and I could be much worse.  Counting blessings is occupying my time: loving family and friends—a wonderful husband who is getting an A+ in caregiving — great medical care — powerful pain medication — time to rest, reflect, and write.

Like the original fall in the book of Genesis, every fall involves an opportunity to choose. We are created as choice-makers, and that entails a lifelong journey of learning and growing, making mistakes, and making amends. Whether we make good choices or poor ones, we have opportunities to adapt and improve. Whether we are recuperating from an accident or a deep emotional wound, we get to choose how we go forward.  We can become angry and despondent or grateful and enlightened. Every day, we choose life or death; gratefulness is a life-giving choice.