Happy New Year! I hope you’ve had a good one so far. Although life is good here, I’ll admit it:

I’m struggling right now.

I was ready for 2022. I’d even chosen my New Year’s theme word before Thanksgiving—GROW. I wanted to take last year‘s theme, MEANWHILE, and engage more fully with the ups and downs of waiting.

GROW challenges me to not only go through each bout of uncertainty but also grow through it. Growth can be outward or inward, I’m learning.

Blooms or roots.

We can bloom with new experiences or deepen our roots by redefining old experiences, mindsets, or patterns of living in new ways.

At the moment, I’m in a season of difficult root growth.

Yet, I have so much to be grateful for! The holidays were terrific. I was able to spend time with family in our Covid-tested bubble and loved every minute of it:

I even had a chance to enjoy a pre-omicron visit with Madison:

Yet, I haven’t been able to touch a keyboard since Thanksgiving. I injured my right wrist while dressing. I wish I had a more dramatic story to tell, but pulling up my pants as a paraplegic is no small feat.

There is twisting and turning and pulling and tugging and pivoting and rolling so that I can inch my pants and unmentionables into their proper places.

It’s a workout!

But in one evening’s routine pivot and pull motion, my wrist popped and searing pain ripped through to my three outer fingers. I could not move them. Already in bed for the night, I shut my eyes and prayed. The next morning, I used my index finger and thumb to position my transfer board so I could slide from my bed to my wheelchair.

The hand specialist considered it a mild sprain until I re-injured it, once again while dressing. A scheduled MRI will help assess for a possible TFCC (triangular fibrocartilage complex) tear and our next steps. 

Although I’ve managed my body independently for over two decades, I’m still figuring out the best way to manage it safely under these circumstances. The disruption to my daily routines is relentless. This injury affects my ability to transfer to my wheelchair and shower/toileting chair. I can’t type on the computer or edit since I can’t use the mouse. That side-to-side motion is painful for my wrist.

I’ve been wearing a hard splint for two months.

Our arms are not meant to be weight-bearing, they told us in the rehabilitation program after paralysis. And yet that’s what I must rely on to be as independent as possible.

Total healing may not come for three to six months, the doctor told me. However, the way I use my wrist could make re-injury likely.

Sigh.

A lingering gastro-bug isn’t helping. At the moment I’m on a special diet to try to control what is uncontrollable.

Yet, life goes on. I’ve found good nursing care and getting additional help. This quote, my current inspiration, both challenges and sustains me:

“To be accepting of life that comes our way does not mean denying its difficulties and disappointments. Rather it means that joy can be found even in hardship, not by demanding that we be treated as special at every turn, but through accepting the demand of the sacred that we treat everything that comes our way as special.” – Mark Nepo

Indeed, this is a special season of growth! I wonder what I will learn.

Life is very different—but still good. Would appreciate prayers for healing, strength, and clarity of thought.

How about you? Are you experiencing a special season of growth? Blooming or deepening your roots?

And on we must go…

P.S. A special thanks to my virtual assistant, Kat for her help in cobbling my texts into this Thoughtful Thursday format.

P.P.S. Book Update: Before my injury, I hit 190 entries for my book-in-process, Staying On The Upside. Still gathering ideas and very grateful for voice-to-text capabilities on my phone! Stay tuned.