Why we need to be thankful for what we have...

There is a saying that goes something like this - I asked for a pair of shoes until I met a man without a foot. Some of us are like that and are not really thankful for the most important things in life that we take for granted. Yet, we do realize that those are the things that matter most and we really need to be thankful for all that we have. Aimee Copeland was an active young woman in the USA until she lost first her hands, then her feet and her entire right leg to a flesh eating bacteria. Aimee could have given up living, she could have blamed her Karma the way we Asians so easily do in the face of challenging circumstances. But she did neither - Aimee bounced back to life, thankful that she still has one leg and the rest of her. Not having a leg and arms could not hold her back. She was determined to live the only life she knows she has.

Recently Aimee appeared on a TV show, with the aid of a prosthetic foot and a new walker; her actions brought tears to the eyes of the TV presenter while the audience gave her a standing ovation.

When asked if she felt like dying, Aimee shook her head and replied in a clear voice. “I love life. It’s a beautiful thing... even more so now,” she replied, “ My senses have deepened. Everything smells better, looks more vibrant, more beautiful.”

Aimee fell near a river almost four months ago and the fall caused a deep gash in her foot, that allowed the deadly bacteria to enter her body. She realized something wasn’t quite when even after receiving 22 stitches to close the wound on her calf, it hurt all the way up to her thigh.

Emergency room

The bacteria invaded her body, taking over her leg until it turned purple. She could not talk or walk and she could only babble ‘I think I am dying.”

Aimee Copeland (Right) did not like to be called ‘disabled’. Picture courtesy: ABC News

After being in and out of the emergency room with the painful wound that wouldn’t heal, doctors realized she had necrotizing fasciitis and amputated her leg from the hip. Doctors next had to amputate her hands when they turned black in order to arrest the spread of the deadly bacteria.

“I think the most extreme moment was when my dad lifted up my hands for me to see, and my fingers were black and my hands were a deep, blood red,” she said. “I said, ‘Let’s do this.’ I mean, what else are you going to do? Live with some dead hands?” she said on TV. Yet, this young woman was full of life when she spoke of her life, her boyfriend and studying therapy for amputees, waving what she refers to her handless arms as her “nubs” .

Aimee underwent a rigorous 51-day rehabilitation programme at the Shepherd Centre in Atlanta. Aimee said on the TV interview that she could do 300 push ups now and also said she did not like to be called “disabled,” and that she plans to use her “nubs” instead of adaptive equipment because she’s learned to do so much with what she has left.

A video of Aimee Copeland texting with her nose and brushing her teeth with the brush wrapped to her arm was also shown.

Aimee also said that would rather not use hooks or leg prosthetics when she’s able to drive again in a few weeks, adding that prosthetics on pedals are akin to trying to drive a car in a “giant pair of heels.”

Having undergone months of therapy, she said that one of the greatest pleasures for her was being able to stand up.

Courageous young woman

“You take it for granted just to look people in the eyes,” she said. She said that her boyfriend cried the first time he saw her stand and said, “I’ve missed you up here.” There’s a lot that I don’t have but there’s also a lot that I have and other people don’t”, said this courageous young woman who teaches us all a deep lesson in accepting circumstances and working through them instead of crying out about one’s lot.

Aimee Copeland, is also working on her Master’s degree in psychology and wants to kayake and hike.

“I want to spread that knowledge to other amputees and help people get back in the woods, get back in the wilderness, into that place that can be so healing,” she said. Now what is the lesson in this for you and me? Complaining as do of the problems in our lives, not satisfied with the body we have, forever worrying about not having enough money or not making ends meet. Taking for granted the body we have and the organs that function and the limbs we have.

Aimee talks about giving us a new perspective on life - this is not someone who was born disabled, so that she has had time to come to terms with it but this is someone who lost her limbs later in life, making adjustment tough choice. Yet Aimee teaches us all a mighty lesson in living life to the full - whichever way you are equipped. You do not learn the value of something until you lose it - whether a limb, a job, a position or someone in your life you take for granted. We truly need to be thankful for all that we have.

Life is indeed the choice we make to live it or suffer it. Looking at life through someone else’s lens changes the view and enables us to realize there’s still plenty in our lives we need to be thankful to God for.

There’s always hope in living life to the full everyday. There’s always promise in facing every day with courage and conviction. There’s so much life offers us if only we change the perspective. If only we catch the goodness, we would not need to wait until we lose something or someone to regret losing them.