“What do you want to be able to do?”
Several years ago I entered physical therapy. This was definitely not my first time in PT, but it was my first time with someone who was able to help. Early on, she asked what my goals were, what I’d like to be able to do in every day life (an excellent approach, by the way.) I had recently become an auntie when my close friend had a baby. My answer was simple: I wanted to be able to hold the baby.
Now, years later, I am an auntie to many more little ones. While I can no longer hold the big ones (they’re getting so big!), I am able to pick 
several of them up briefly, just enough to get one out of a crib and such. I didn’t think I’d be able to do that. And I can hold the babies. Today I held the littlest, not even five months old, and I wasn’t worried. I had some pain, but very little. And when she jerked to the side, as babies like to do, I simply adjusted my grasp. I didn’t worry for a moment about dropping her – that simply wasn’t going to happen.
There are many ways to look at health status. I could look at my inability to work, or my frequent fatigue. I could consider my pain and my frustration. Many days I focus on those things. But today is different. Today I am thinking about holding that precious little girl, how special it is, and how amazing it feels to do something that just a few years ago seemed impossible. There are many things that I want to do in life. For a little bit, while holding that little girl, the rest was all irrelevant.
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Chronic Rants 