There is a beautiful English
phrase, “look for the silver lining in the clouds”. I am actually witnessing a
number of such silver linings, recently.
An unfortunate road accident,
in Madurai ring
road highway, had left my wife’s right arm fractured. The first silver lining was
that, the accident did not kill any of us, nor any one in the car in which we
collided with. As my wife was whining with pain, at the moment of the accident and
I was trying to reach out to my relatives through my mobile to get her transported to
the hospital, one passer-by – a young gentleman cared to stop his car and
volunteered to take us to the hospital. We took his help and made a quick exit
from the accident spot. Here, was one more silver lining.
In just a day after the
accident, my wife got operated and had a steel plate fixed in her arm to
reconstitute the bone structure. With many relatives and friends visiting us at
the hospital, we found a lot of solace. The feeling of being cared for and being
important was another silver lining.
We mentally got prepared
for a month long rest and healing time. There were just two issues which
created a lot of unrest to us. One was the PALMS Summer Camp which was
scheduled in the first week of May and the other one was the proposed family
cum friends overseas trip to Thailand
and Malaysia,
which was in Mid May. After some contemplation, we decided to postpone the PALM
Summer Camp to the last week of May. The holiday tour we had promised our kids,
was the only concern left, unaddressed. With little worry, we told the doctor
about our foreign travel plan. We had no clue that the doctor would give us a
green signal. He said, that she will be perfectly alright in 10 days and she
can travel anywhere, provided she takes a little precaution. It was now a matter of our own choice. It was
a great mental dilemma, whether to go or not to go. Normally, any one would opt to cancel the trip
and stay back. With mixed feelings we took a bold decision, to go ahead with
the tour. The decision turned out to be
good. We enjoyed a great holiday abroad and came back recharged with a great
feeling of accomplishment. If we would
have stayed back, we would have undergone more mental agony and depression. The
tour created a positive mindset. The focus on pleasant experience made the
painful experience minor. This again was a silver lining, I should say.
It has always been me,
telling my wife to do this and that. Now that she was unable to do many things,
I not only had to do all my work by myself, but also had to assist her to do
her work. However, I felt it was a great opportunity for me to serve her and
pay back a little of her care. I realized how much, I have taken her for
granted. We never realize the importance of electricity until there is a power
cut. Similar, was my situation. This realization, I feel is one more silver
lining.
I have read these words
quite often - every experience has got something to teach us. This experience
indeed taught us a lot. It helped us to realize the value of each other and the
value of our own life. This I think is
the greatest silver lining of all.
Every one experiences
difficult moments in life. It is the ability to bounce back fast that really
matters. We were able to bounce back
fast, not only because of the miracle of modern medicine, but also owing to the
love, care, support, motivation and prayers of our family members and our close
set of friends and relatives.
Happy Reading,
D.Senthil Kannan
Article dated June 2009
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