When I first began working on this post, I could barely see out of one eye, as it was puffed up and bruised from a recent bike accident, when my tire skidded on the groove of a streetcar track and threw me off the bike. I whacked my face – right near my eye. In spite of the shock and blood pouring down my head, I managed to cycle home and eventually get to hospital.
It’s been a long week of recovery, with lots of swelling and headaches, but it could have been a lot worse. With all the resting and reduced screen time (something many of us could benefit from), I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on what lessons I could glean from this terrible incident.
For one thing, it’s made me appreciate how fragile we are as physical beings and to not take your health for granted. Recovering from an accident or illness strips you down to a very basic place where all the things you were fussing about fall away in importance. Suddenly, all you need are rest, food, and peace and quiet. And what a relief it is when the body starts to heal again and your energy returns.
I’ve also tried to be less judgmental of other people. Who knows why someone is wearing dark sunglasses (as I was) or carrying themselves in a certain way? We could all do with being more compassionate with others, as we would hope people would be compassionate with us in our own times of weakness.
On top of this I would add the importance of caring for one another – let’s do it more. I was fortunate that my neighbour kindly patched me up and drove me to hospital, but in some ways, the worst part about this experience has been dealing with it mostly alone. Even everyday tasks like cooking and washing dishes became gargantuan.
A traumatic incident takes time to process, and it’s therapeutic to have people to talk to. Maybe there is someone you could reach out to today, to help them when things go wrong. Let’s delve deep into our inner empathy and show one another the true essence of our humanity that binds us together.