Monday, June 28, 2010

staying positive...can be an adventure


Good Morning,

I saw an interesting sign this weekend...

The Pioneer Ridge Retirement Community now offers programs such as Assisted Living and the new "Rapid Recovery" physical therapy...

"Rapid Recovery" at a retirement community?

Isn't it more like just keep pluggin’ along you’ll get there?…anyway

I’ve been a little down.

It seems a seemingly unretrainable part of my brain wants to be enjoying summer's playground a little more...running through the waves, hiking up trails, getting my cycle ready for the Tour de France! (okay, I'd settle for the Tour de Lawrence...).

I think this is the same part of my brain that when driving home from the Farmer's Market this weekend said let's keep going! I am not ready to go home yet! And with the AC (air conditioner) chugging along we hit the open road looking for adventure...in Kansas.

When did this start happening? The quirky determination to look for the positive?

It must have been when I asked the swishy-legged nun--“swishy-legged” because that’s all I knew of her--she wore heavy nylons that swished when she entered my hospital room.

I asked her the tough questions…Did God care? If I’m “God’s child” did he know this had happened? (*note to new reader. i could breath and move my biceps a little. that was pretty much it. oh, and i was 16yrs.)

She told me “yes” and that “he was sad.”

I pushed it a little further. "Then why didn’t he stop it? He’s God. He can do anything…"

She smiled down cherubically, patted my shoulder and said,

“because it’s like this…God was there. He was sitting atop a very tall building yelling down to you during your accident ‘I care Amanda!’ but he was too far away you couldn’t hear him.”

This was the exact moment I stopped believing in GOD.

(I still do not know what she meant...)

and started looking for god in the small fun things like nuns in swishy panty hose.

I admit to days where I still struggle with the "why" question but for the most part it helps me if I believe "God never promised me a Rose Garden." I can appreciate the joy of finding a life littered with new adventures!

I thought you might enjoy seeing what awaited on campus at Kansas State University...

KSU Insect Zoo from Amanda Vallo on Vimeo.



Happy Monday,

Amanda

2 comments:

Prof Shan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Prof Shan said...

I think appreciating a rose garden in sweltering heat in the middle of an insect zoo full of creepy crawlies is definitely finding the positive side of life!

Still a little traumatized by the experience, but loved the adventure! Thanks for the great brainstorm, and the wonderful blog! My new favorite :)