Preparation... an Ongoing Life Skill

As humans, it seems we're always preparing for something.

As children, we're more being prepared for things than actually preparing for ourselves. We're prepared to crawl, walk, talk, go to school, learn to swim and other activities. As we get older, we prepare for tests in school by studying the content, we prepare for sporting activities by going to practice, and we prepare to get our driver's license. Later, we prepare for college, graduation, careers, marriage, or not getting married. We prepare for having children or not having them, then prepare for our future, our kids' futures, for things in life and sometimes we prepare for death.

These past two weeks I've found myself preparing for surgery, and recovery, (finally) for my arm which was injured in an accident with my horse last September. Preparing for the surgery has been a fairly easy task as somehow, way back on that September day, I instinctively knew there was more wrong than what I was being told by doctors. As time moved it, it turns out I was right. Usually, one simply doesn't hurt and not get better when there is nothing wrong, but I'm not going off on that tangent.

I've found that preparing for a surgery in my fifties is different emotionally and physically than it was in my thirties. This time around I thought more of legal issues and how long my body will take to recover. I think in my thirties, I still felt relatively invincible. Back then I didn't think about life insurance, living wills, medical powers of attorney, organ donation, or that I wouldn't be able to do what I do on a daily basis right after a procedure. Yes, this procedure is a relatively simple one on just my arm, but it really got me thinking about the "what-if's." I won't and don't dwell on them. By the time you all are reading this week's column, I should be home and well on my way to recovery, but in order to prepare, you have to think about them, at least enough to get documents and things in order.

So, with getting those things done, I found myself preparing for my recovery. My recovery will be an ongoing process for several months. There will be things I cannot do during that entire time, things I can do after a certain period of time, and things I can do relatively quickly.

For the first couple of weeks, I won't be able to do much of anything with my left arm – which might prove to be a little tricky as I'm left-handed. Don't expect my signatures to look like mine anytime soon, and I'm betting Roger and Erin are pretty happy these columns are typed right about now.

Fortunately, I'll be back to work at the bank after about a week, and the doctor is confident I'll be able to knit and spin within about two to three weeks. Horseback riding and weight-lifting are out of the picture for the foreseeable future. I'm not too worried about the weight-lifting as I've never been one to do it, but missing the horseback riding during the prime weather in Lincoln has me a little sad.

There are things I need to have on hand for upcoming shows and consignments to shops and new items to bring into my little yarn corner shop, so I prepared for those and have several items completed and in inventory for the next couple of months. Let's just say with all the preparing, it's been a pretty busy couple of weeks.

I won't be able to do a lot of the outdoor work that I had anticipated like finally getting my little fairy garden in or some of the outdoor landscaping things I'd so been looking forward to, but on the plus side I will be able to work on my writing for a book I've been preparing to finish and get published later this year. And I should be a pro at updating my own website by the time this recovery thing is over.

There are things we prepare for our entire lives. It takes us several years to be able do them. Preparation is an ongoing process for us all; we'll always be preparing for something. There are things we've been prepared for that never happen, and things we should have prepared for that do. It's called living. Life is a continual preparation for what's coming next. As with all things, we can be proactive and positive with our preparations, or we can let things happen as they will or prepare negatively for things that will happen in our lives. The choice is ours.

What can you do today to prepare for tomorrow, next month or even next year? How do you want to prepare? The fact of the matter is that even if you're not preparing for surgery, recovery or anything that I've been preparing for, none of us are invincible. Most of us need to prepare for the worst, but while doing so we should always expect the best. Those words of wisdom come from my father and my other half.

Now, I'm nowhere near perfect, but this time around I think I've done a fairly good job of preparing for both the possible ill-effects and the more probable positive recovery from this surgery. And I anticipate having many more things in this life of mine to prepare for.