I noticed how some Lilies thrive even when their stems are leaning and looking precarious! The buds bloom and live the normal season. The Lilies appears to be wounded, but shows no sign of it in the way it is flowering!
Flowers are fragile, but the photo above gives the message of strength!
To have a developmentally challenged child at home is a hurting experience for parents and for the child. I have several recollections of families and their children who did not stay wounded or reduced the prospects of exploring to live well and fulfilled.
I remember a young man walking towards me in the air port whom I did not recognise. He introduced himself as one who was a visitor to the child development centre at Chennai in the nineteen eighties for getting help for his hemiparesis. His last visit was when he was eight years before his parents relocated at New Delhi. Since then he went on to complete his schooling and computer engineering course. He was well employed in a multinational company heading the software team. He recollected the conversations during his regular visits with his parents during consultation about improving mobility and learning skills. He recalled how regular swimming as suggested then and using a computer to write made him functional over period of time. He still had minimal asymmetry while walking but showed no other indications of limitations. I enquired of him as to what enabled him to overcome his earlier limitations! He said, that his parents gave him all the opportunities and encouraged him to do what all other children would do at school. He was a member of the adventure group at school, who learned skating, trekking, and boating! He was enabled to look beyond his limitations!
This conversation brought into focus as to how we can look at our opportunities in different seasons in our life. Every time I feel the pain caused by arthritis, I remember stories of children like that of the boy above, who saw the future and its possibilities!
Fallen but not frail- that is the message I picked up from these Lilies that thrived against the odds!
This brought into focus something I read recently- visionary living! We become what we choose to become!
I met a family recently who had difficulties with their son due to dyslexia and attention deficit. They were regular visitors to the child Development Unit where I worked. He had musical abilities and interest in creative art. Using those interests they developed his skills. Currently he is a vocational counsellor having completed his post graduation! Listening to the way they looked at the possibilities and used the opportunities to upbuild him amazed me!
This family demonstrated the fruits of visionary living!
I find that mid life is a time of challenges and opportunities! That is the time to engage with life even more earnestly! The generative outcome of mid life is dependent on how one attends to the process of formation and transition in life!
It is a way of living when we do not yield to the weight of circumstances, but rely on the inner resilience we are endowed with! We are to be an overcomer because that is our calling!
For that to happen, we need enablers to support those who become weary while on their journey !
M.C.Mathew(text and photo)
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