Pain and trouble? Remember to count the blessings …
In August, this started in my mind as a blog -- one small example of how the v.com resources have helped me get through a painful ordeal. But since several v.com authors have recently written pain-related blogs, I decided instead to offer it as a discussion thread -- especially since I'm interested to hear your experiences along this line.
In mid-summer, I had a painful rash on one forearm and one lower leg -- an allergic reaction to a poisonous plant common here in the American Southeast that grows on reddish stalks. I forget the plant name at the moment. I had no idea I was so sensitive to it, but now I've learned some much-needed lessons in prevention.
I continued violin practice till Mother Nature kicked in with her remedy, fever, to help combat the poison. That shut down my practice for three days. Besides some basic, commonsensical home remedies I used, I kept up with v.com and got a big boost from reading your threads and blogs -- not to mention the musical tracks. Here are two -- one from the 7-30-2010 Weekend Vote and one I found on my own:
Barrage 1999 -- Old Joe Clark
Richard Strauss's Rosenkavalier Waltzes -- Piano Duo
These tracks make you want to dance. Well, I really don't know how to dance, but I love to walk. Since I didn't feel like going outside, I took the walks indoors these three days -- 20 minutes at a stretch. At first, I felt sluggish, but the music helped me shake off the fatigue and pick up the pace to my usual 3.5 mph/5.63 kph. I felt like I was wearing a happy grin from the inside out. I got the same kick out of it that I got as a little kid, going for a joyride on Daddy's shoulders.
The condition soon cleared up, and I was soon back to playing 3 hours a day. Still, even during the worst of the pain, I stopped to count my blessings. I asked myself: "Can you hear, see, sit, stand, walk, coordinate, balance? Can you access v.com? Can you fall asleep each night?" Yes to each one. "Well, thank God for all these blessings -- and consider how much harder life would be without even one of them. Remember -- things could always be so much worse."
Replies (3)
So true Jim. My husband and I are both self employed and have really struggled for the last year financially. We keep reminding ourselves that we are both healthy, not behind on our house payments and still have work lined up - although not as much as we are use to. We consider ourselves lucky. So when my husband said he was using a paycheck to buy a guitar I at first resisted but then said sure, why not. You only have one life and the time will never be right to try something new. So now he has his guitar, I have my new violin and we both have a pastime we can share together and escape from life's stresses for a while. Lots to be thankful for.
Someone (maybe it was Viktor Frankl) once said that either life is meaningful or it isn't. And if it is meaningful, then it is meaningful all of the time and under all circumstances, not just when things are going well. And if it isn't meaningful, then it isn't meaningful ever, even when things are going well. Imagine someone spending their entire life writing little dots on paper, and that is a pretty good description of Beethoven's life. We know he had bad hair days, but it never stopped him.
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November 20, 2010 at 04:10 PM ·
Hey, thanks for posting the link to "Old Joe Clark". I'm working on my own arrangement of it, and it's fun to see what other people are doing with it!! :)