Happy New Year | jmgoyder

Powerful!

by jmgoyder

I follow the blog of a wonderful woman, Nicole Cody, who writes with such positive, energetic wisdom that sometimes it takes my breath away. In her post today, she invites us to choose a “Power Word” for 2014 – see http://cauldronsandcupcakes.com/

Lots of possible words came to mind: gratitude, laughter, healing, energy, harmony … but then I suddenly realized that I wanted my own power word to be the word, power itself. Or, to be more exact, the word, powerful!

POWERFUL – yes, I like it!

For me, this word doesn’t mean that I want to stomp, Godzilla-like, on anybody or anything; instead, it signifies a transition from the flailing, exhausted, try-too-hard strength I already have to a more spiritual, muscle-bound ability to contend with all 2014’s challenges, and embrace all of 2014’s joys with the kind of gratitude that is loud and fierce and inviolable.

The weird thing is that as soon as I chose my power word, my limp became a leap, and my wrinkled heart grinned itself into a balloon.

Thank you, Nicole! This photo of Prince is for you.

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The party animal is back!

by jmgoyder

Ming has taken the good car down south, with a best friend, to a New Year’s Eve party because he only has an automatic licence and our very old ute (truck) is manual, so guess who is driving that? Yes, me, and it is so ancient that just turning the steering wheel left and right etc., on even a short drive, is equivalent to a two-hour arm workout at the gym (not that I’ve ever done that).

We finally have a date for the court case – 22nd January – but until then Ming still has his driver’s licence, so he is making the most of it. Of course, since the car accident, I am very nervous about him driving but, except for the aberration in October, he is a careful driver and is not a drinker, so I hope they both have a great, safe time, but look forward to their return tomorrow.

Ming is off all of the strong painkillers now and just needs panadol occasionally; the bandages are off and he is definitely straighter again and the pre-op. pain has gone. It was a bit of a shock to see that the new scar is almost as long as the one from his original scoliosis operation (almost the whole length of his spine) so I guess they had to rummage around a bit to replace the two broken bits of titanium – yes two! and pack crushed bone from the bone bank all around the area to ensure it all knits back together.

I have probably posted these photos before, but I like them because they show his character. Yes, we have our arguments and conflicts, and we wrestle in different ways with the anxiety about the accident, the kids, the future, but we always talk things through. It is so good to see Ming bouncing back again.