Daily Archive for April 11th, 2007

Are You Looking For Heroes?

Published on April 11, 2007 in Gratitude Journal. 4 Comments

I know you’re tired of the news too. How many more times can we hear of a baby being hurt by his parents, of the elderly beaten and neglected or of families killed in their own homes? And how many times can you try to lend a helpful hand to those who suffer when you yourself are running on half empty? Right now, you don’t have to think about that. You don’t have to deal with the latest numbers of those killed in Iraq or about that child who was stabbed in the back and thrown from the car by his own father. Today, we read only about heroes. Today I offer a little good news; two stories of individuals that rose to the occasion, that made a difference and perhaps for some rekindled their belief in the basic good of the human spirit.

Story number one is about a local boy who jumped on a run away horse carriage and halted it, saving those on it as well as the horse and possibly many others from harm. Although there are many different grandiose tales of the hero’s background one thing remains consistent, how the potential tragedy began and how it was halted by one smart kid. IndyStar.com reports the story -

William Basler didn’t stop to think when he saw a runaway carriage careening through Downtown Indianapolis on Sunday afternoon.
He took off, bolting after the driverless carriage. When he couldn’t catch up, a cab driver offered him a ride. That got the 19-year-old close enough to leap onto the carriage, sweep the reins off the ground and bring the horse to a halt, about four blocks from where the adventure began. Read the rest of his story here. You won’t regret it. Just hit your back button to return here and read the second hero’s story.

Story number two:

Imagine that your two children age 11 and 11 months are outside playing in the yard. Everything is okay until a coyote the size of a German Shepherd comes running out of the woods and grabs hold of your 11 month old by the head. What happens next will surprise you but what is more, it’ll inspire you. Click here to read the story.

Please remember, though the world shows it’s ugly face there is beauty and there are miraculous deeds at every turn. It is so easy to forget that when you turn on the news. But with stories like the two above we can stop just for a second and focus not on criminals but on heroes.

That’s all for today folks.
See you later.
Same Aussie time. Same Aussie channel.

Gratitude Journal: Painless

Published on April 11, 2007 in Gratitude Journal. 3 Comments

My neighbor that I call UK has Lupus and is a lot of pain right now. Her husband has asked that I come over and work my “magic” on her aching back muscles. I’ve worked on her back before and she said it helped relax her and helped relieve a lot of the pain. It feels good to drag my bag of tricks over there and help out like that. I’ll return in a day or two with this bag of goodies to help again. I have a Shiatsu machine, a regular heating pad as well as a weighted heating pad. I can show her how to release a lot of tension from her chest muscles which will in turn release other muscle tension. All you do is put a small pillow behind your back and have someone put their hand over the center of your chest lightly. As the muscles relax you’ll feel heat. When the muscles release the tension the heat can almost feel like heartburn. I do this on my own by putting a pillow behind me and a book on top of my chest. It works like a charm. So I let her do that and do a bit of body massage with heated aromatherapy oils.

Watching her get skinnier and skinner, sicker and sicker brings to light just how cruel Lupus can be to the body. It is a daily struggle for those who “only” have their joints affected by the Lupus. But for those whose lungs and kidneys have been affected or for those with skin Lupus it can be a losing battle with pain that I hope I never know. But if I can for just a second offer relief to a friend with constant pain then what more can I feel but gratitude? I was happy to do something as simple as a massage.

Several months back I was in so much pain that I was nearly in tears. Blossom had this cream called Sombra that she kept telling me about but I never used it. Since I was rather desperate I let her go ahead and put it on my knees, my tail bone, hips and back. It took about 3 minutes to start working. For the first time in ages I was painless. I was moved to tears because I’d forgotten how it felt to not have chronic pain. The Sombra only lasted for a little while, for about 30 minutes but in that 30 minutes I remembered what painless felt like and for that I am truly grateful.

I was at the dollar store two days ago and bent down to look at the items on the lower shelf. Just as I got down there a lady came up and wanted by me. I had to tell her I was stuck and couldn’t get up to let her by. I was so embarrassed. My goodness, have I gone down hill so much that if I bend down I’ll need assistance getting back up? I braced on the soda in the milk crates and got myself back up and kept on going. There will be many times like that. I can’t be torn up each time or I’ll not just have Lupus I’ll have a severe case of bitterness. Bitterness can tear the body down faster than most anything. No, I can’t do a lot of the things I use to do. My energy level is shot to crap. I have to use it wisely, pace myself and plan ahead. Most of all, I have to accept these changes. I have to appreciate the physical abilities I still have as opposed to being furious and feeling worthless because of what I don’t have physically.

Chronic pain can affect your thinking, your mood, your appetite, your everyday life and your outlook on life itself. Chronic pain can change you. It can also make you forget what physical abilities you still have. Its hard to see anything when all you feel is pain. It comes before everything. When you eat, when you sleep, when you sit at the computer, when you sip a cup of coffee, talk to a friend on the phone, watch a movie or lay down to sleep at night chronic pain is there. That kind of pain can easily snuff out a person’s ability to remember the physical strengths they still have and see the good left in life. But we must always, always look for, seek out and focus on hope that is sure to beam through the darkness of pain.

Austin’s August

Gratitude Journal:Painless
April 11, 2007 (1:18am)

Never Assume Always Verify

Published on April 11, 2007 in For the Record and Humor. 4 Comments

I thought about how this spring and summer would change with my neighbor not sitting on her porch swing waving to me as Captain and I moved about in the yard. It seems so sad to think of looking to my left and seeing an empty swing. Despite the fact that I can’t stand her drunken mate I felt I needed to at least go over to the house and tell him I was sorry for his loss. I don’t have a lick of respect for anyone that assaults another person but I still wanted to go over there and acknowledge his loss. I got myself together and knocked on the door. Let me back up a bit.

Only once before have my knees shaken so badly that I felt they’d actually give out. I was in the caves in Kentucky walking a thin bridge under ground with a drop of 150 feet. I’m not good standing on a chair let alone on a bridge with 150 feet below me while I’m under ground in the blackness of a cave. My knees buckled. I thought that was something only in the movies but nope, it actually happens. So that day in the caves I had to be assisted walking the rest of the way across the bridge. Not until Tuesday evening have my knees buckled that way again. I knocked on the door ready to give my condolences. I stood there, the door opened slowly and there stood my red headed neighbor that was suppose to be dead. I about passed out! She said, “Hi” I think I may have stuttered “hello” and perhaps drooled a bit while trying not to pass out on her front porch.

I didn’t know what to say because there I was talking to someone that I thought was dead, someone that I thought had been bagged and taken away in the ambulance. Come to find out it was her sister that died. So there I sat in her living room saying very, very little. I couldn’t say to her, I’m so happy your sister is dead and not you. I just kept quiet, after all I was still in shock, still somewhat woozy from her answering the door. I must have changed three or four colours before turning white! I may have aged 5 years in that moment and I’m not sure if my eyes have returned to their natural size. They may still be bugged out. It might take awhile for my body to re-coop from that shock. As I sat there saying very little I didn’t mentioned that I had mourned her passing for several days before getting up the nerve to come offer my sympathies. I believe that keeping my mouth shut was the right thing to do. And I am so happy I didn’t send a card.

Her sister was invited to stay with them during her last days. When the sister passed the abusive mate of my Lucille Ball look-alike neighbor went outside with the ambulance people as they took her sister away. My neighbor stayed inside talking to the paramedics which is why I assumed it was her they were taking out of there. He was there, she wasn’t. I thought the logical conclusion was that she was dead. One must never assume, always verify OR make sure there is someone to catch you when you pass out on the front porch after you realize your friend and neighbor is actually alive.

The next time I post that someone died you might ask yourself, has Austin verified this?

So, I look forward to looking to my left as I exit my front door to see my flaming red-headed neighbor sitting on her swing waving to me and Cappy as we move about the yard. May she never find out that I believed her to be dead.

 

Austin
Never Assume Always Verify
April 11, 2007 (12:45am)