It happened this morning.
My plans have changed.
What was usual was now not.
If anything could go wrong, it does. It did.
Awry. Out of kilter. Different order.
Struggling to bring it back under control.
Finally! I feel in control.
Whew! This morning nearly got away from me.
Thinking about it again, I suspect the problem began last night. I awoke this morning, and the toilet was running. It had been all night long. Hint!
How Bad Can It Get?
He was six years old, with his whole world ahead of him. And then, a sickness plagued the land and popped up in his neighborhood: polio. It had been around for several centuries. Finally, Jonas Salk created a vaccine, and it was licensed for general use three months after I was born. [Source] It worked. The number of cases and deaths dropped, and by the 1960s, the number had virtually been defeated.
A memory. We got our vaccinations at the local courthouse. There are several ways: stand in line or stay in the car and drive through a line. Sounds familiar. Pandemic, anyone? One vaccine was a sugar cube. No one would refuse that, right? I don’t remember. I was too young.
How do you fight this disease and the fear that was rampant?
Salk was interviewed and made this declaration about not benefitting financially from this vaccine and who “owned” the patent for the vaccine:
“Well, the people, I would say. There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?”
Just about everyone I know has had a polio vaccination. Thanks to selflessness. Someone righted a wrong.
But what about those with the crippling effect of the disease? Crutches. Braces. An Iron Lung.
While we have been on vacation, Paul Alexander passed away. Known as the Man in the Iron Lung, he contracted polio at six and was eventually paralyzed from the neck down. Eventually, the only life he had was bound to a machine that acted as the diaphragm so he could breathe.
You would think it couldn’t get any worse. For 72 years, he lived with the results of the disease. It wasn’t always easy. There were hurdles. Obstacles. He graduated second in his class from High School, got a scholarship for college, and earned his highest degree, a Juris Doctorate of Law. He had a job training stenographers on legal terminology. He wrote a book and started a Tic-Toc channel. Finally, he experienced COVID-19 in February 2024. His cause of death has not yet been noted.
In other words, with the worst thing that could happen to him, he proved you don’t keep a good man down.
His brother was interviewed and had this to say about his older brother.
“He wanted to change the world,” said Philip Alexander. “He wanted to help people out. He wasn’t going to leave [this world] until, in his mind, he did something grand.”
When Life Goes Awry
This morning, the skillet and eggs were messed up, the coffee pot boiled over, and it seemed like the day would be a disaster. But I could take control—right the wrong—and finish my morning.
It was up to me not to let the moment get away with it.
When life throws us lemons, or so the saying goes, make lemonade, open a stand, sell it expensively, and make a killing in the market. Someone says survival happens to the “fittest.” Physically? I’m not. Mentally and Spiritually. I think I have what it takes!
Wrestle that struggle to the ground.
While pinned, choke the life out of that negative thought!
Stand back up! Keep on going!
When it seems like you’ve chosen the wrong path, pull to the side of the road. Rethink your direction. Plan your moves to get back on track. Be safe. Don’t ditch dive! Obey the rules of the road, but get up and get going again!
I know what I’m talking about. There are moments of life I don’t share with anyone. They are between me and God. It’s easy to be stomped on when you are down, but that’s not my personality. Get back up. Face life. Keep moving ahead!
That’s what Joseph did…
But as for you, ye thought evil against me;
but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass,
as it is this day, to save much people alive.
(Genesis 50:20 KJV)
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