Tuesdays with P.A.?

I once read a book called Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom. It spoke of a man who was slowly dying of a terminal illness and he asked a former student (Mitch) to do his biography. The major lesson of the book is that at all stages of our lives, we will need people.

The other day, I was suffering from muscle spasms on my left arm. I've been having muscle spasms on my arms lately. In my line of work, it is expected as we use our hands all the time. It is our worthiest part of the body. Another colleague from another section commented before that if we should ever break a fall, we should never use our hands because that would mean we couldn't work.

If you are wondering what we do, we are text processors. We treat text all day long on the computer, bashing out corrections, dictations, proofreading, etc. Mainly, we use our hands as an extension of our brain.

So back to my aching left arm. I love working with my hands and it pains me to not have the use of both of them. Imagine trying to go to the loo (or toilet) with only one hand? If you are Filipino, you need both to clean yourself. One holding the dipper (or tabo) and the other ... well may be you already know what it would do.

It was difficult enough to try to put up my pants by myself after using the toilet, let alone, trying to prepare food with only your right hand. I was very thankful that my roommate helped me open a packet of youghourt and assist me in eating it. Otherwise, I would have gone to sleep hungry.

This brings me back to Morrie's Tuesdays with Mitch recounting how at every stage of our lives, we need people. This is so true. No matter how independent you think you are, at one stage in your life, there is bound to be an occasion where you would need another person to help you, whether to hold the elevator door open as you get in, give you a hand if you fall in the middle of the street, lift your heavy luggage so it can fit into the overhead cabin and many more. No matter how mundane the task, when you're unable to to accomplish it because you don't have all your faculties with you, it becomes a Herculean effort.

It is a humbling experience to be needy and all the more when you don't have all your faculties around you. I am thankful that God has given me good and kind people around me so that if I can't move my left arm to help myself, He would give me a human representation of His hands to help me.

And for this, I am truly thankful to Him, who not only gives me His hands but His life so that I may live.