Randy D Gibson

Be thankful for the little things

For those who read this column, you may have noticed I’ve been on a little bit of a hiatus the past few weeks. In full disclosure, it was actually because I had a medical emergency.

It was a normal weekend with daily walks working out, and donating, plasma, on Saturday, going to church on Sunday, and joining my wife in teaching the six-year-old class, walking home, having lunch, taking some quiet time, then spending a few minutes in the hot tub before getting ready for the upcoming. week. Suddenly our world was turned upside down when I had a blockage in my brain, causing a stroke.

Thankfully, my wife was with me when it began and, luckily, I only live one mile from the hospital.

As luck would have it, the hospital here where we live also happens to be a major stroke and trauma center for the area. The ambulance was able to get me to the hospital very quickly. By the time my wife got to the emergency room they had already done the scan and located the blockage, and the neurologist was waiting on her to come in the door to get her permission to give me the clot shot” as they call it and get me up to the operating room to do the procedure to clear out the clot.

When I woke up in the intensive care unit and began to realize what had happened, I could not move my left arm or hand. For a journalist who is also a drummer, not being able to move your left hand or arm is frightening.   Then, I begin to realize the seriousness of my situation.

My wife, daughters and their families were thankful I was even alive. In my own clouded mind, I was simply trying to grasp what was going on and what was going to happen next.

When you are used to being the one who “does,” it is a humbling thing to be the one who must “be done for.”  I suddenly wasn’t worried about, the news or who was still in the playoffs or the upcoming college national championship game.

 I was worried about being able to type, hold a drumstick, and keep doing my volunteer work.

When my family realized I was stable and OK it was late. I had a one-on-one nurse who was watching me the entire time since I was going to be checked on every 15 minutes. My family went ahead and left to return the next day.

In that forced silence, I began to realize that I had spent years looking at the horizon while stepping over the miracles right at my feet. I was all always one who had been thankful for the things they had. However, it’s easy to be thankful for the “big” things like family, cars, homes, weddings and trips. It is much harder, and perhaps more vital, to be thankful for the breath in your lungs the strength to stand up and the ability to see. An experience like this makes someone realize just how fortunate they really are and how maybe so much time shouldn’t be wasted being angry about things that don’t matter much or things we can’t even control.

Being in intensive care meant there were people around me who were in even worse shape. It was humbling to hear the words, emergency response team code blue to room nine knowing that someone was in real trouble two doors down from me. I laid there, wondering if that person was going to make it and if they had family around the corner or down the hall anxiously waiting to see if their loved one was going to live or die.

Former church leader, and well-known heart surgeon Russell M. Nelson has frequently spoke about the transformative power of a thankful heart. He taught us that “counting our blessings is far better than recounting our problems.”

When I was laying in that hospital room, I had plenty of problems to recount. I could have made a list of every muscle that wouldn’t move or every thought that felt foggy but when I shifted to counting blessings—the skill of the doctors and nurses, the hand of my spouse, the love of my family and friends, the ability to still be able to talk and at least move a little I was grateful.

Former airline executive Dieter F. Uchtdorf once shared that gratitude is a “divine principle” that shouldn’t depend on our bank account or our health. He said, “We can choose to be grateful, no matter what.   This type of gratitude transcends whatever is happening around us.”

To be grateful “no matter what” is a tall order when your body feels like a stranger. Yet, it is in that choice where the grace enters. I started looking for “tender mercies” in the mundane. I found gratitude for the mountains covered in snow outside my window, for the ability to still hear, and the ability to still be able to move my right hand and arm. I was grateful for my friends, family, and neighbors who offered me their “thoughts and prayers.”  This phrase has become one of mocks and scorns by some. However, I was grateful for each and every one of them.

I’m grateful that my left hand is moving better and I can now hold a drumstick even though I can’t play very well, I’m grateful that my vision on my left is beginning to return. albeit slowly.

I’m still having a lot of difficulty typing with my left hand and in fact, even trying to put, this simple article together has been an all-day nightmare, but nonetheless, I’m grateful.

In 1973 country singer Tom T Hall had a number one song called “ILove” where he listed many of the simple things in life that he loved. Going back and listening to that song made me even more appreciate the little things around me.

I hope it doesn’t take a medical emergency like it did me for you to slow down and appreciate the things around you that you’re blessed with. Maybe things aren’t so bad for you after all.

Randy D. Gibson is owner of RDG Communications and is someone who is grateful for the little things.