A Miracle of Miracles....

I get an inspirational email every day and I wanted to share this with all of you. I couldn't help but plug in words here and there to describe Infertility. Try it. I hope this encourages all of you still waiting for your miracles....


A Miracle Of Miracles: Realizing An Impossible Dream
By: Saralee Perel
"So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem
improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become
inevitable." Christopher Reeve

Recently, for the first time in 5 years I simply went out back, put my
cane down, and started walking. I made it 42 yards.

Today I walked 5 miles.

My medical team had said this would be impossible. My brain could no
longer send the signals for walking because those nerves in my spinal
cord had been destroyed. Though certainly unintentional, my doctors
did take something very important away from me: hope.

A while back, a psychologist pal of mine urged me to try to help
myself. I was angry. I said, "They're four of Boston's leading
neurologists. They all said I'd never get any better."

"They could have all been wrong."

"They said there's nothing I can do! No rehabilitation. No physical
therapy. I'm not putting any effort into trying to walk and then be
miserable when I fail."

"Trying is never failure."

I'd get steaming mad at people like her. What did they know? They came
out in droves. I heard various things I should try: a soy-based diet,
massage, Yoga, acupuncture, positive thinking. All of these
well-meaning non-experts believed that traditional medical doctors do
not know everything about human potential.

However, there was a common denominator in my friends' advice. And
that was the word, "Try."

What made me finally try? The answer is simpler than I'd have ever
imagined. That day I tried walking on my own, I had simply said to
myself, "Why not?"

When I walk I have a Frankenstein-style gait. I get embarrassed so I
explain. I met a gal who said, "Stop excusing yourself. Walk proud!"
She's just one of the many who've taught me that if I open my heart to
acceptance, the world is filled with support teams.

I've also resolved to open my obstinate mind and really listen to
others, experts or not. This not only fosters my own sometimes-frail
belief in my abilities; it fosters faith in miracles.

One morning my husband, Bob, said there was a huge present for me in
our driveway. He had researched "bicycles for disabled people." It was
a 300 pound cycle for two. The seats were side by side. He could pedal
while I sat by him and enjoyed the outdoors again.

Um . . . did I mention it came assembled with a set of pedals for me too?

Now, hundreds of miles later, after exhaustive hours of pedaling along
beautiful bike trails, I only wish that we owned stock in Ben-Gay.

Bob needs a tube a day to keep up with me.

Last week he repeated, "There's a huge present in our driveway." He
led me outside. "Voila!" he said. "Oh no," I moaned. Bob dubbed it
"The One-Woman Dynamo Power Bike."

"Sweetheart? You know I can't bike on my own."

He laughed sweetly. "I know. And you can't walk either. Then why does
the pedometer I bought you have 74 miles on it?"

And so, I made a now often repeated declaration that I am praying
others will say to themselves as well. "Yes. I can."

Think I love my bike? You bet. Think I love Bob? Of course. Think I
love life again after cloistering myself in a self imposed no-can-do
closet? Goodness! You have to ask?

How do we find hope when hope seems impossible? Do we simply believe
in our hearts, our minds and our very souls that we can beat the odds?

Yes.

Christopher Reeve said, "When we have hope, we discover powers within
ourselves we may have never known. Once we choose hope, everything is
possible."

His immutable words still ring in my heart and I so hope they will in
everyone else's: "And you don't have to be a 'Superman' to do it."

Saralee Perel is an award-winning columnist, novelest, and retired
psychotherapist. Also, she is a contributor to Chicken Soup for the
Soul, Family Circle Magazine, the Dallas News and many other
publications. Her novel, "Raw Nerves" - A Cape Cod Comedic Thriller,
enjoys very favorable reviews, and can be purchased at Amazon.com (use
link above)
Saralee Perel, can be reached at sperel@saraleeperel.com.
Her web site: www.saraleeperel.com/

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