The Japanese have an ancient craft known as kintsugi. It can be best understood this way: If a piece of valuable china is dropped and breaks, instead of throwing it away or repairing it perfectly, the kintsugi craftspeople use lacquer containing gold to piece it back together. The scars and cracks of the china are […]
Built into your being is a physical mechanism intended to bring relief and inner healing. This mechanism scares a lot of people and is often avoided like the plague. The mechanism is those tears that flow from deep within. Tears have been my friend during this recovery journey. At critical points along the way I […]
Why do we celebrate anniversaries? Why do we pause on days of the year when difficult things have happened in years gone by? Is there value in remembering those traumatic, life changing events? Remembering the death of a loved one, the day the house burned down, the day those soldiers died, or the day the […]
There are days when it’s easy to lose sight of the big picture. Days when you wonder “What on earth am I doing here? Why are my life and circumstances so difficult? When will the struggle and hard work end?” Having the big picture in your mind helps keep you going. Take Michelangelo for example. […]
Every new milestone brings with it a new challenge we must face. Does that sound like a contradiction? Aren’t milestones simply an opportunity to celebrate progress and growth? Yes and no. Yes – milestones reached are a reason to celebrate! Take this week in my life. I reached a milestone: I started driving after 710 […]
Victor Hugo once said, “Change your opinions, keep to your principles; change your leaves, keep intact your roots.” Living by principles instead of running around looking for the perfect methods gets you where you want to go. When the helicopter carried us away to Royal Columbian Hospital, my principles were firmly in place. As I […]
Last week I received news of the strong likelihood of another surgery – surgery number nine. What I thought would be day surgery to release my knee so it will bend past 90 degrees was inaccurate. The release my surgeon will perform is a complicated procedure involving re-entry into my rebuilt leg and pulling apart […]
This week I stood in the hall of the Physiotherapy clinic I frequent approximately three times a week and found myself doing a little show and tell. My Physiotherapist was explaining my situation to a colleague and we were taking a look at the scar on the top of my upper leg. The scar looks […]
It’s not how you start that really matters but how you finish. You obviously can’t finish what you haven’t started but in terms of easier, starting wins. Anyone can start a race, a project, a relationship, an education, the pursuit of a dream – but it takes character and tenacity to finish! One of the […]
There are two key ingredients in life’s recipe you need to survive and thrive during times of adversity. Internal strength of character and a band of brothers and sisters standing with you. The story is told of the first paratroopers in the US Army called Easy Company. One of their regular training drills was to […]