Reach Up!

14 Aug

Concussions are not a lot of fun!

One of the problems with being tall (and clumsy) is I hit my head a lot. Yesterday I hit it a little harder than normal.

I was bending down to plug in the overhead exam light, so I could see better to examine a patient’s skin lesion, when I hit my on the mounting arm for the light. The blow almost knocked me off my feet and left me with a 2 cm cut on my head.

After one of my colleagues Steri-stripped the laceration, I went back to work. However, as the morning progressed, I started feeling woozy, unsteady and nauseous. I was having trouble concentrating and tasks that are normally routine I was having to really think through. Finally, after almost falling when I closed my eyes, I decided it was time to go to the ER to get checked out.

Thankfully, a head CT was normal, and I was released with a mild concussion and instructions to take it easy the rest of the day. No problem with that, because I ended up sleeping most of the afternoon away.

This morning I’m back to normal (or at least as normal as I get), but I’ll be a little more careful and watch where I’m going better in the future, especially when I’m in the tiny exam rooms at our clinic. Some lessons hurt more than others.

Often, like happened to me yesterday, life knocks us down unexpectedly. We can be going along just fine, when – “Bam!”- something knocks us off our feet, sending our world spinning out of control. It could be a job loss, a broken relationship, an unexpected illness. Often, like in my case, it’s just pure carelessness on our part. Whatever the cause, we’re left reeling and in pain.

The good news is, even in times like these, God never leaves us. As it says in Micah 7:8, “…though I fall, I will rise again. Though I sit in darkness the Lord will be my light.”

No matter how many times life knocks us down, God will always be there to lift us back up. Even when it’s our fault, His hand remains outstretched to help. “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up…” (James 4:10 NLT)

This week, when life knocks you down, don’t waste time laying there feeling sorry for yourself. Instead, when you fall, reach up! Take hold of the Father’s hand and “rise again.”

God bless and have a wonderful week!