Mama Update: (Day 9-10) Perspective is Everything

Tuesday 12/20 update (days 9-10) for Bonnie Spencer Kitchens:

Perspective is everything..

Caring for a stroke-survivor, you see first-hand the real-life emotional roller coaster they are on. In just the last 24-hours my mother has audibly and uncontrollably laughed at my brother’s antics only later to be exasperated and frustrated at her inability to communicate her own wants/needs.

It’s painful to watch. We want to help so badly, but we can’t always figure out what she’s trying to say. We are learning just as she is learning.

Her mood today has been much like the Georgia weather. This southern lady seems unseasonably cool and gloomy.

But perspective is everything..

When everything in our life is sunshine and rainbows we would never dream of being content, or even excited, about being three steps from “worst-case scenario.” And why would we even think that way? From our perspective in those warm and glowing moments, we don’t anticipate any change. We soak in the moment. (Or at least we are learning that we should soak in those every moments.)

But when you’ve been at rock bottom, or you’ve stepped right up to the edge of worst-case scenario, you can then see the beauty and joy of being one degree to the right of worst-case. That’s because you have a new perspective, and perspective changes everything. When you take that first baby-step away from the worst, what lies ahead is hope and opportunity. Will you ever get back to “everything is fine”? Who knows, but you’re sure as heck glad to be two steps away from “worst-case scenario.”

Today, mama isn’t feeling like “everything is fine,” but she’s not where she was last Sunday. She’s not communicating like she wants to yet, but she’s making a few sounds and telling Wayne “nooo!” And she just told me “woo hoo” when I asked if she was ready for bed. She’s not getting all the cognitive tests correct, but she’s blowing our minds with what she CAN do. At times it feels like we are soooo far away from “everything is fine.”

But perspective is everything..

Where are you on the journey?
Have you had some setbacks?
Does it feel like “everything is fine” is soooo far away?
Just take a moment, regain perspective, and realize that there’s hope and sunshine ahead. There really can be joy in the journey. “Everything is fine” is simply a matter of perspective.