Did you ever get in a situation that seemed impossible? In such a predicament that you have no idea which thing to do first? Kind of like Lucy in the chocolate factory when the assembly line is moving too fast. Me too.
About 20 years ago, I was in an interesting situation. My sister Clare was still in college and she and I had gone home for the weekend to see our Mom. It was Thanksgiving so we had a few extra days to enjoy the home cooking and company. My Mom lived in Ashland, WI at the time. Ashland is on Lake Superior, it’s where I grew up.
We were supposed to go back to Madison (300 miles south) on Sunday. But it started to snow on Saturday night and by the time we woke up on Sunday, we were in the middle of a blizzard. This was not the first time we were snowed-in during Thanksgiving break, it happened pretty regularly when I was growing up.
My sister had a paper due on Monday and was determined to start out for Madison. So we loaded my pickup truck (small size Ranger) and I began to drive. When I turned the corner to get onto the highway, I realized that we were not going to Madison that day.
The snow in the road was higher than my truck. It was about 9-10 feet deep in the middle of the road. I stopped the truck and put it in park.
And this is where it gets interesting.
My sister, the eternal optimist, turned to me and said “Did you bring a shovel?”
I nodded my head while my mouth was hanging open and she got out and grabbed the shovel and started to dig. At this point we had about 299 miles to go and the snow was 10 feet deep. I sat there stunned as she dug and wondered just how long she would dig before she realized that we weren’t going to Madison. I tuned in the radio and all of the highways that lead in or out of Ashland were closed and there she was digging.
That my friends is optimism. Now you and I both know that there is no possible way we could return to Madison that day. All of the highways were closed and even if my sister is in great shape, you can not dig a 300 mile path for a pickup truck I don’t care who you are.
But this got me thinking. What is it like to go through life to the beat of her drum? What is it that she sees when she looks at this problem? Clearly, she did not see an impossible situation. She saw an opportunity to try something. We didn’t get to Madison that day, but I did learn a thing or two about my sister. She makes my optimism look pretty run of the mill compared to hers. My goal is to reach that level of optimism someday.
Can you imagine what she would think of having AA(adhesive arachnoiditis, chronic back pain)? I know that she hasn’t given up hope that something can help us. She is always giving me suggestions and trying to come up with new ideas for helping me. It is great to have someone in your life with such a positive outlook. She’s a pharmacist and although she hasn’t found it yet, she wants to find a more effective pain treatment or anti-inflammatory that doesn’t have all of the drawbacks but does allow us to regain our lives.
The next time I’m faced with an insurmountable problem, I will ask myself “Did you bring a shovel?” and then I’ll continue on trying to do whatever is possible for me. Instead of automatically giving up, I’ll try and shovel my way out of this disease and back into life. Why don’t you join me? If enough of us grab a shovel, we will take back our lives and then just watch us go.
Anne