Hello again- Friday afternoon, April 10, 2009

Well, I guess almost three years have passed since I wrote in this blog.
Here I am in the mountains outside Jerusalem, enjoying the gorgeous weather while my husband and son are out mountain climbing.

Lots of things have happened in the intervening time,
too many to start trying to remember.

But actually, now that my kids are older (27, 25 and almost 20), I have a little more time to myself than before. In addition, I have made a conscious decision NOT to take too many teaching hours at school like I used to do (each frontal teaching hour = the equivalent hour (and often more) in preparation time/test grading /administration duties etc--and the equivalent hours are not paid!

Sometimes that means more private lessons to give but the resulting decrease in stress is worth it!

The truth is that I have had a chance to stand back and try to understand events in perspective:

In August, 1993 I was in a traffic accident with my two younger kids--they were slightly injured and recovered within 1-1 1/2 months.

But I was very badly injured and almost didn't make it off the operating table alive, multiple fractures and lacerations, a month of operations and two afterwards in Rehab--lots of time to think......

Friends were great, brought me lots of reading material, visited often, kept in touch. Those were the days of the huge cellphones, which I used (and would have been lost without).

Between the massive amounts of physiotherapy I had that year( from a great physiotherapist who wouldn't let me pity myself and stop trying --thank you, Zohar, it is because of you that I am walking, running and functioning!) and lap swimming for 2-3 hours a day in the Rehab pool,
I regained the use of my right arm and left leg.

During that period of time (late 1993-early 1994), I came to several conclusions which still are true, at least for me:

1) I survived that accident for a reason--didn't know what it was then but I knew I had to do something worthwhile with my life, because I had been given it back as a gift.

2) True, we are all going to die eventually of something or other; some will suffer less, some more. For the duration of my time alive, I plan to live it as healthily as I can.

3) I also learned not to give in to self-pity--that is paralyzing in itself. No matter what a bad deal I thought I had gotten, it was always worse for someone else. Being in Rehab for a long time tends to put things in perspective.........

4) Don't sweat the small stuff--it's just not worth it. There are too many serious, big thinjgs to worry about--it's just not worth getting upset over small things.

Enough philosophizing--have a good day!