Focus Pocus — Where You Are NOW Can Be Magical

Inspiring Gems for Motivation and Success from Entrepreneur/ Greatness Coach Meridith Hankenson Alexander

Hello, Global Family! Where you are NOW can be magical -- providing that you trust in the process and resist the temptation to always choreograph the ballet. Today, once again I sit in an environment filled with smiles, "standing ovations", words of love, laughter and total encouragement. I stare out onto a storm moving into the bay. The palm trees are swaying in the wind. The smell of cookies baking in the other room wafts through the air. Trucks and cars zoom by on the bridge in the distance. There is a blissful harmony in this moment. A calming peace. A sense of rightness. And did I mention that some of the wonderful people in this room have lost a leg, have lost their families and lost much of their mobility...? Most are in wheelchairs. Some will never walk again and yet there is more life in this room than I often feel in the midst of the hustle and bustle of any given city street. Being alive is not a physical state. It is truly a mindset. We live inside of our minds. Our beliefs about everything that occurs in the outer world are created in the inner world. Schuyler and I wake up each day with a giggle and a smile -- a genuine giggle and a smile. It doesn't matter whether we are waking up in the middle of the night for a quick trip to the rest room or whether we are waking up for the morning rush to therapy. We wrestle into a pair of spanx, which serves to counteract Schuyler's ataxia. By the time that they are on, I am covered in sweat as if I have spent 15 minutes in spin class. The sun blasts in through the bathroom window making the temperature even more sweltering. We juggle. We maneuver. We brace ourselves. We struggle and YET WE LAUGH. This is our life to create. This is our moment to live -- never to have the chance to repeat. And yet somehow in the midst of what could be stress, we find pleasure. We find silliness. We find numerous reasons to feel joy. I genuinely FEEL the progress. The way that Schuy stands up... a bit more poise... a bit more balance... then the swaying, the overcorrection, the "almost fall" but finally stable--at least more stable than it has been in the past. This recovery is not quick but it is noticeable and powerful. My time is of course a challenge because there are many, many things that pull at me -- that cry out saying that this (no, THIS) most importantly must be done. We are in a new phase. Schuyler's naps are a thing of the past. REJOICE! Her brain wants to savor more of this day. She wants to stay awake. She is ready for the next challenge -- ready to live more! I look over and see her in a hurdler's stretch lifting her back leg, strengthening her abductors. These are hard exercises but yet she persists. Her desire is strong. She knows. She KNOWS that the health of her body is an important tool for her life-long tool box. Schuy's therapist pushes a huge wedge shaped mat over onto the floor. It sounds like an explosion. Everyone jumps. Everyone laughs. Time for OT. Today, Schuyler gets to simulate being in her own apartment. She will get to try her hand at making gourmet P, B & J sandwiches, getting into bed, using the restroom -- all as independently as possible. Schuy is nervous but excited. Heather begins setting up the "kitchen" area. The jelly goes on the higher shelf. She puts a loaf of bread, a glass plate, a single serving PB container and a wide knife on the counter. Schuy propels herself over to the counter using her heels for traction. Heather engages the wheel chair brakes. Schuy nervously grips the edge of the counter and pushes up to a stand. She opens the cabinet and reaches up for the jelly. Heather holds onto the back of her gait belt. Schuy laughs nervously. My heart is BUBBLING OVER like a champagne bottle newly uncorked! Should I laugh, cry, whoop, roll onto the floor? I can SEE it-- the vision of Schuyler on her own -- making it, commanding it... thriving! A thousand gazillion variations of joy propel me away from my computer.