Full Transcript for Please Don’t Dawdle: Building Resilience When You Can’t Get Up

my temperature. 00:02:52.240 --> 00:02:54.719 My fever was 103. 00:02:54.719 --> 00:03:01.599 I wondered if I had an abscess tooth and if that could be causing a fever. 00:03:01.599 --> 00:03:09.919 I didn't know if an abscess tooth typically will cause a fever that high, but I didn't know what was going on. 00:03:09.919 --> 00:03:12.960 So my entire jaw was still pretty sore. 00:03:12.960 --> 00:03:18.000 But I later decided that this felt like I was coming down with the flu. 00:03:18.000 --> 00:03:22.560 Anyway, I took a Tylenol and buried myself under the covers. 00:03:22.560 --> 00:03:26.159 Sick and tired, I took a nap. 00:03:26.159 --> 00:03:29.120 I woke up about 90 minutes later. 00:03:29.120 --> 00:03:31.199 I still felt poorly. 00:03:31.199 --> 00:03:34.639 I decided to get up and get a drink of water. 00:03:34.639 --> 00:03:39.919 I sat at the edge of the bed for probably about 20 or 30 seconds. 00:03:39.919 --> 00:03:45.759 When I went to stand up to get out of the bed, my feet slid out from under me. 00:03:45.759 --> 00:03:49.759 My legs were very weak and I wasn't able to stop the fall. 00:03:49.759 --> 00:03:52.800 I hit my head on the nightstand on my way down. 00:03:52.800 --> 00:03:56.000 Not the first time I've done that. 00:03:56.000 --> 00:03:59.199 A little deja vu from 2023. 00:03:59.199 --> 00:04:10.719 Lying there on the hardwood floor, I attempted to get up, but I had no strength in my legs, and the bed was just a little too high for me to pull myself up on. 00:04:10.719 --> 00:04:13.520 I couldn't even get up on my knees. 00:04:13.520 --> 00:04:16.720 I was very weak with the flu, I believe. 00:04:16.720 --> 00:04:24.240 I attempted once again to get up on my knees to try to pull myself up, but I just wasn't able to do it. 00:04:24.240 --> 00:04:28.560 It was really painful for my knees for one thing. 00:04:28.560 --> 00:04:35.439 At least my head didn't seem to be bleeding, but that was the least of my problems. 00:04:35.439 --> 00:04:37.279 I couldn't believe it. 00:04:37.279 --> 00:04:41.519 I have gone over two years without such a setback. 00:04:41.519 --> 00:04:44.160 How in the world did this happen? 00:04:44.160 --> 00:04:57.360 Well, I knew I was really weak and with a high fever, which again, unusual for me, but there I sat on the hardwood floor, my hips now starting to hurt me by this time. 00:04:57.360 --> 00:05:01.040 Rob was working, so he wasn't at home. 00:05:01.040 --> 00:05:06.959 I knew he was with a customer and I didn't want to interrupt that, but I was really hurting. 00:05:06.959 --> 00:05:09.759 I was having a hard time just sitting up. 00:05:09.759 --> 00:05:15.839 I was aching everywhere, but my hips were the most uncomfortable. 00:05:15.839 --> 00:05:23.279 I tried to reach for my phone, which was on top of the bed nearby me, but it was just out of reach. 00:05:23.279 --> 00:05:29.600 So it took me about, I don't know, maybe 20 minutes or a little more to finally get it. 00:05:29.600 --> 00:05:34.879 When I did, I texted Rob these three words. 00:05:34.879 --> 00:05:38.720 Please don't dawdle. 00:05:38.720 --> 00:05:44.720 I figured he should be ending his appointment shortly, and I wanted him to come straight home. 00:05:44.720 --> 00:05:47.279 Around an hour later, the phone rang. 00:05:47.279 --> 00:05:48.240 It was Rob. 00:05:48.240 --> 00:05:51.040 He asked, What is going on? 00:05:51.040 --> 00:05:53.199 He said he knew something was up. 00:05:53.199 --> 00:05:58.160 I told him I fell and couldn't get up. 00:05:58.160 --> 00:06:01.759 And he said he would get home as quickly as possible. 00:06:01.759 --> 00:06:04.000 He was about an hour away. 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:08.959 I'm sure he probably exceeded the speed limit. 00:06:08.959 --> 00:06:13.360 I was counting the minutes. 00:06:13.360 --> 00:06:19.519 When he walked in and saw me, he was so compassionate, as he always is. 00:06:19.519 --> 00:06:26.079 He attempted to get me up on his own, but I told him I didn't want him to try because he has a bad back. 00:06:26.079 --> 00:06:29.680 Besides, I was dead weight by this point. 00:06:29.680 --> 00:06:40.399 I knew my legs had no strength, and I mean, even less than usual, especially with this fever and the weakness from the flu, I was just pretty shaky. 00:06:40.399 --> 00:06:50.639 Let me pause here a moment just to say that it would have been very easy to fall into a trap of unhelpful negative thinking. 00:06:50.639 --> 00:06:55.519 I could be sitting there thinking, why me? 00:06:55.519 --> 00:06:58.399 Everything seems to fall on me. 00:06:58.399 --> 00:07:00.560 Why can't I catch a break? 00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:02.959 Why is this happening to me? 00:07:02.959 --> 00:07:05.199 I must be cursed. 00:07:05.199 --> 00:07:16.079 But I want to encourage you, friends, not to succumb to those negative thoughts, even when a crisis hits. 00:07:16.079 --> 00:07:24.560 I know this takes practice, but this is when it's important to hit the pause button, as I like to say to my clients. 00:07:24.560 --> 00:07:30.000 Imagine yourself hitting a pause button and give yourself just 10 seconds to think. 00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:32.319 Just think. 00:07:32.319 --> 00:07:36.800 Don't be so quick to react. 00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:41.839 Those other thoughts are not helpful at all. 00:07:41.839 --> 00:07:46.800 Have you ever had negative thoughts that seem to just come on too quickly? 00:07:46.800 --> 00:07:51.759 I began to think, what is helpful? 00:07:51.759 --> 00:07:55.600 What can I replace those automatic negative thoughts with? 00:07:55.600 --> 00:07:58.560 Here's what I did. 00:07:58.560 --> 00:08:05.920 I prayed for starters, and I thought to myself, I've gotten through harder things before. 00:08:05.920 --> 00:08:07.360 I can do this. 00:08:07.360 --> 00:08:11.600 I thought, Rob is on his way, and I know this is painful. 00:08:11.600 --> 00:08:13.439 I'm breathing through it. 00:08:13.439 --> 00:08:17.519 Inhale, long exhale.

00:08:17.519 --> 00:08:23.199 I was praying that God would give me the strength to endure as he always does. 00:08:23.199 --> 00:08:29.920 And hear me when I say I fully acknowledge the reality of this moment. 00:08:29.920 --> 00:08:35.759 I didn't deny my pain or how scary the situation was. 00:08:35.759 --> 00:08:42.960 I didn't know if my legs would strengthen again, even just enough to pass through this. 00:08:42.960 --> 00:08:46.320 I didn't know anything for sure. 00:08:46.320 --> 00:08:48.879 I could only hope. 00:08:48.879 --> 00:08:55.200 I thought about how I had been running a high fever and I'd been weak. 00:08:55.200 --> 00:08:59.600 So I was believing when I feel better, I'll strengthen, at least some. 00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:06.480 I mean, this really stinks right now, but this will get better. 00:09:06.480 --> 00:09:11.600 Okay, let me get back to that in just a minute. 00:09:11.600 --> 00:09:15.039 This is a good time for me to share my faith take. 00:09:15.039 --> 00:09:20.000 You know, Romans 8.28, many of us have heard this many times before. 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:28.480 Romans 8.28 promises that all things will work together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose. 00:09:28.480 --> 00:09:38.480 That verse doesn't say that I will get off that hardwood floor and find relief for my aching hips, my sore and shaking body, and high fever. 00:09:38.480 --> 00:09:44.000 And it didn't say when I would be able to get off that floor. 00:09:44.000 --> 00:09:56.240 There was no guarantee that I would get rescued and everything would be glorious, or that I would experience a miracle and have my neurological issues reversed. 00:09:56.240 --> 00:09:58.720 And I know that. 00:09:58.720 --> 00:10:05.440 I have studied and continue to grow in understanding of the character of God. 00:10:05.440 --> 00:10:11.360 That's what I hope you'll hear in my story and in scripture. 00:10:11.360 --> 00:10:17.279 God's promises to me about healing will be fulfilled. 00:10:17.279 --> 00:10:25.120 And it may mean waiting till I reach heaven, but God always keeps his promises to me and to you. 00:10:25.120 --> 00:10:30.000 The situation didn't ruin my faith. 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:31.679 I don't get mad at God. 00:10:31.679 --> 00:10:37.600 I understand some people do, and he's a big enough God to hear you out on that. 00:10:37.600 --> 00:10:47.039 But at the same time, it's important to remember and expect that bad, even awful things are going to happen in life. 00:10:47.039 --> 00:10:49.519 And I don't have to like it. 00:10:49.519 --> 00:10:59.919 Because we live in this corrupt world with some evildoers and with Satan the enemy, life can be hard. 00:10:59.919 --> 00:11:01.440 We all know that. 00:11:01.440 --> 00:11:07.679 I don't want to succumb to the flesh, which can also be an enemy. 00:11:07.679 --> 00:11:09.679 Here's the thing. 00:11:09.679 --> 00:11:16.480 I've learned and I've come to accept that I don't want to respond in the natural. 00:11:16.480 --> 00:11:59.440 It does mean I know where to go when I need answers and wisdom and hope. 00:11:59.440 --> 00:12:06.399 I'm not living for this world, as you've heard me say in episodes 15 and 16. 00:12:06.399 --> 00:12:08.720 I live for eternity. 00:12:08.720 --> 00:12:12.879 I am heaven-bound, friends, and I hope you are too. 00:12:12.879 --> 00:12:15.440 I hope that's where your focus is. 00:12:15.440 --> 00:12:31.200 If I imagine myself living the past 60 years on this planet, and I compare that to the rest of eternity, the thousands or millions of years and more that is to come, then these 60 years don't seem so long. 00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:45.519 We won't have suffering in eternity, in paradise, as long as we seek and receive Jesus as our Lord, regardless of your story, friends, he is waiting to hear from you. 00:12:45.519 --> 00:12:48.320 Please don't dawdle. 00:12:48.320 --> 00:12:55.759 So how did I finally get up off that hardwood floor? 00:12:55.759 --> 00:13:00.399 Rob called a friend to ask for assistance, but it went to voicemail. 00:13:00.399 --> 00:13:03.360 He called another and the same thing. 00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:17.519 I don't mind telling you that as I sat there, my legs were very weak and numb, as they often are anyway, on any day of the week, but more so at this point after I had fallen. 00:13:17.519 --> 00:13:30.720 And I wondered if once they got me up off the floor, if I would be able to walk again with a cane, or if I was going to have to revert to that walker, or worse, the wheelchair. 00:13:30.720 --> 00:13:37.519 I mean, I had questions come into my mind, like, how did I actually fall? 00:13:37.519 --> 00:13:40.639 And why are my legs suddenly so weak? 00:13:40.639 --> 00:13:43.679 And will they become strong enough? 00:13:43.679 --> 00:13:47.440 And will I be able to walk when they finally get me up? 00:13:47.440 --> 00:13:51.279 It almost felt like my legs were paralyzed. 00:13:51.279 --> 00:13:53.600 They were so weak and numb. 00:13:53.600 --> 00:13:56.080 But I knew that wasn't the case. 00:13:56.080 --> 00:14:03.600 I've been there, complete paralysis, so I know what that felt like or didn't feel like. 00:14:03.600 --> 00:14:11.039 And this time I was hoping, praying my legs would hold me up once again. 00:14:11.039 --> 00:14:18.960 I certainly had doubts that wanted to intrude my mind because my legs were so numb at this point, I could hardly feel them. 00:14:18.960 --> 00:14:25.840 Yeah, I had doubts, which is natural, but I fought it. 00:14:25.840 --> 00:14:35.600 I was holding out for God's answer to all of this, and I chose to focus on me walking and getting up off that floor for starters. 00:14:35.600 --> 00:14:39.919 Finally, Rob called our friend and neighbor, Greg. 00:14:39.919 --> 00:14:42.480 Thankfully, he answered. 00:14:42.480 --> 00:14:45.279 Rob asked, Are you home? 00:14:45.279 --> 00:14:47.919 Greg said, No, I'm in town. 00:14:47.919 --> 00:14:53.519 And

Rob told him, Never mind, thinking he would just find someone else to call. 00:14:53.519 --> 00:14:56.720 But Greg asked, What's going on? 00:14:56.720 --> 00:15:01.039 Rob told him I had fallen and I was on the floor. 00:15:01.039 --> 00:15:04.159 Greg said, I'll be there in five minutes. 00:15:04.159 --> 00:15:06.000 And he was. 00:15:06.000 --> 00:15:18.320 He was able to come over and help Rob get me off the floor and sit me back on that bed. 00:15:18.320 --> 00:15:24.879 Oh, I had been on that floor for two and a half hours. 00:15:24.879 --> 00:15:31.200 I was hurting, and I was also still sick and running a high fever. 00:15:31.200 --> 00:15:35.440 I was grateful to finally get off that floor. 00:15:35.440 --> 00:15:41.679 It took me a little while to see if I could straighten out my legs and see if I could take some steps. 00:15:41.679 --> 00:15:45.200 So after a little bit, Rob brought me the walker. 00:15:45.200 --> 00:15:50.320 He helped me to stand and he walked behind me till I got to our nearby bathroom. 00:15:50.320 --> 00:15:54.879 I was still very weak, and Rob had to hold on to me as I walked. 00:15:54.879 --> 00:16:00.879 Then I walked into our beloved sunroom and I sat in the recliner. 00:16:00.879 --> 00:16:09.120 But after a short while, I got up and took some more steps with the walker just to make sure my legs were still working. 00:16:09.120 --> 00:16:13.039 They were weak, but I would be okay. 00:16:13.039 --> 00:16:22.320 Just to remind you, I don't like using the walker, and I really resented having to use it last week, even if only for a day or two. 00:16:22.320 --> 00:16:26.879 Still, I'm grateful I didn't have to succumb to the wheelchair. 00:16:26.879 --> 00:16:31.679 After about a day and a half of using the walker, I kicked that thing to the curb. 00:16:31.679 --> 00:16:37.279 Well, actually, to the corner of the bedroom, and I returned to my cane. 00:16:37.279 --> 00:16:39.919 I'm not all that steady on my cane. 00:16:39.919 --> 00:16:48.399 I never was, but I insist on using it because I feel like I get a little weaker when I depend too much on the walker. 00:16:48.399 --> 00:16:56.559 There are times I really should use the walker or even the wheelchair, but it's sort of a mindset thing for me. 00:16:56.559 --> 00:17:01.120 I don't know if any of you have ever had that kind of experience. 00:17:01.120 --> 00:17:03.200 It was a series of events. 00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:10.079 At one point, I needed the wheelchair, and then I progressed to the walker, and then finally progressed to the cane. 00:17:10.079 --> 00:17:13.279 I definitely don't want to go backwards. 00:17:13.279 --> 00:17:17.200 My neurologist says I shouldn't think of it that way. 00:17:17.200 --> 00:17:23.920 I should think of it as tools, and that sometimes the walker is the smarter option. 00:17:23.920 --> 00:17:25.519 He's right. 00:17:25.519 --> 00:17:27.279 A hundred percent. 00:17:27.279 --> 00:17:38.559 I know that intellectually, but something in my brain doesn't want me to rest in taking what might seem like the easier route. 00:17:38.559 --> 00:17:44.880 For one thing, to use a walker or a wheelchair causes Rob more work. 00:17:44.880 --> 00:17:57.920 He never complains, but I'm very cognizant of the fact that this whole ordeal, the issues with my health, this journey I'm on, affects Rob tremendously. 00:17:57.920 --> 00:18:01.599 Since 2023, life became harder for him too. 00:18:01.599 --> 00:18:04.240 It's both of us together. 00:18:04.240 --> 00:18:05.359 We're a team. 00:18:05.359 --> 00:18:10.960 And thankfully, he graciously takes that on with a beautiful spirit and heart. 00:18:10.960 --> 00:18:14.400 And I'm incredibly grateful for that. 00:18:14.400 --> 00:18:19.359 Is this a rough chapter in your life? 00:18:19.359 --> 00:18:23.279 If you're interested in working with me, I can help you find ways to move forward. 00:18:23.279 --> 00:18:33.839 I'm not only a graduate level counselor and a masterlife coach, I teach my clients the very skills I used to endure and overcome my pain and suffering. 00:18:33.839 --> 00:18:38.720 Like when I was paralyzed and any other challenge that came my way. 00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:40.559 So I know what works. 00:18:40.559 --> 00:18:43.440 These skills are battle-tested. 00:18:43.440 --> 00:18:55.839 If you'd like to connect with me, just go to my website at hopeblvd.org and request a free 15-minute call to briefly share with me about your issue and to see if I'd be a good fit for you. 00:18:55.839 --> 00:19:00.319 There's more info on the website, and I will leave a link in the show notes. 00:19:00.319 --> 00:19:05.839 Thank you so much for listening, friends. 00:19:05.839 --> 00:19:10.480 If this episode has been helpful or encouraging, please share it with someone. 00:19:10.480 --> 00:19:13.759 And if you're not already on my email list, how come? 00:19:13.759 --> 00:19:15.839 I would love to connect with you. 00:19:15.839 --> 00:19:20.400 You can subscribe at hopeblvd.org and I'll send you my newsletter. 00:19:20.400 --> 00:19:27.839 It's a brief three-minute read, it's quick, it's easy, and it's always an uplifting and encouraging message. 00:19:27.839 --> 00:19:31.279 So go to hopeblvd.org and sign up, friends. 00:19:31.279 --> 00:19:33.680 I'd love to connect with you. 00:19:33.680 --> 00:19:38.960 In the meantime, make it a great day for you and someone else. 00:19:38.960 --> 00:19:43.279 And remember, friends, there is always hope. 00:19:43.279 --> 00:19:44.559 Always. 00:19:44.559 --> 00:19:46.480 Bye for now.