Six years ago today I had a terrible car wreck that broke five vertebrae in my neck and back. Six years ago today I could easily have been paralyzed but was not. So today is my lucky 13th.
I have often called it my Lucky Accident, as it left me feeling lucky for what did not happen and grateful for all the things that did happen, following it. I was lucky in that my son was driving my car behind the car I was driving and was able to call for help. I was lucky in that chunks of loose bone were there, right next to my spinal cord and I had no paralysis.
I was and always will be immensely grateful for the love and support poured on me by family and friends (and even strangers!) following the accident. I am grateful for the full use of my limbs and for all the joy that affords–the ability to tear paper and make art, to type words into a computer, walk through the woods with my dogs and climb hills and drive a car. And the freedom to dance!
Bad things happen. People die. We lose people and animals we love. We lose abilities and freedoms, jobs, things, even houses.
But we receive gifts, too. And the important question is: What are you grateful for? How are you lucky? Any way you slice it, if you’re alive right now, most likely you’re lucky in many ways. The trick is noticing.
