Badassery 1/16/21 and Gratitude Day 146

Well hello little badass calendar…

My favorite topic… gratitude.

Regardless of the means,

practicing gratitude shifted my perspective

from dwelling on things I had no control over

to focusing on positivity.

Who cannot find one little thing to feel grateful for?

For instance:

Breathing

As a Respiratory Therapist, breathing is my thing.

I am grateful for breathing.

I won’t bore you with technicalities, but it’s pretty essential to everything.

I stopped breathing once.

In the Emergency Room.

I died.

From the ceiling I watched the events unfold.

I saw myself blue on the bed surrounded by people.

I heard my doctor say “If we can’t get her back we’re going to have to intubate.”

I saw them using an ambu-bag to force air in and out of my lungs, giving me medicine through the IV in my arm, shocking my body with paddles.

All the while, I was in the corner up on the ceiling, well, my spirit was in the corner, watching and listening. I was looking on wondering what the heck?

I was peaceful.

One moment I couldn’t breathe,

the next I was calm and watching from the ceiling.

The next I woke up in a hospital bed a bit disoriented.

I asked my doctor what happened and he told me that they almost lost me.

I told him what I saw and the conversations that I heard – word for word.

He was shocked – probably more than shocked judging by the look on his face.

But let’s suffice it to say that since that pivotal moment when I was 18 years old, I have been unafraid of dying.

I have also come to realize that the calm I experienced in those fleeting moments when I was not breathing and watching the events from the ceiling cannot be obtained from anything on earth.

I wasn’t a Respiratory Therapist at the time. I didn’t know that the ambu-bag meant that I wasn’t breathing, the medication was to start my heart, and when that didn’t work the shock was a last-ditch effort to bring me back.

All I knew was that I was calm.

The calm was spiritual in nature, in every fiber of my being, overwhelming peace that passes all understanding.

From that moment on,

regardless of the twists and turns my life has taken,

I have been grateful for breathing.

However,

when my time on earth is no more

I will be equally as grateful for the absence of breathing,

because it means that I will be in the presence of G-d,

my loved ones, and a host of Angels.

I will be calm, and will again experience that peace again!

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!

Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:4-7

In these days of turmoil, especially in the USA, many are feeling sad and uneasy.

My approach has been to look at all angles and pray.

I hope you will pray with me,

and be grateful.

Find something to be grateful for,

even if it is ‘just’ breathing.

Choose gratitude.

XO Lisa ❤️ living a gratitude filled life!