Therapy.

Oooh, a bad word it is that ther – a – py. While in rehab, as best as I recall, peeing was not a problem for me with all the blood thinners and water I was forced to drink. But when I finally flushed enough morphine out of my system to have a proper bowel movement. I did not yell “ther – a – pee!”  I was so excited that I called in the nurses to say “there-I-shat”!! (Maybe you have to have gone through constipation to understand what I’m talking about here.)  And, what a glorious feeling it was to remove the waste from your system.

I lavished the nurses and God with thank-you’s.

An important note here: celebrate the big and the small victories in coaching, training, or therapy. When you have successfully rid yourself of a wasteful habit, then celebrate the accomplishment (tastefully, of course). Remember not only to show your gratitude but to also say you’re grateful. Say ‘thank you’ and ‘you’re welcome’ often.  The changes will see in your life from this simple change will be profound! Don’t worry…you can thank me later. LOL

‘Pleases’ and ‘thank you’ are just the right thing to do. BTW, thank you for having enjoyed and shared in a significant part of my life.

My mother was there every day. She thought it was the right thing to do. She would go to work and then come to see about my progress.

She learned to dress my wounds and learned how to help me with me bed exercises. She also bathed me in my bed which was pretty embarrassing at first. Here I am a grown man and I cannot bathe myself. Plus, she is bathing me out a of wash tub probably the same size as the one she used when I was a baby. She didn’t complain though. She always looked at me with love. I guess to her I was still her baby – albeit with hair on my chest and grey hairs on my head.

I have to say something here about showing genuine care for one another. It is hard enough to go through this life without breaking down on your own. There is no need to beat a man any further than life does. We have to “nurture like a mother”, as Jim Rohn would say. Again, it’s simply the right thing to do. (That’s the third time I repeated that phrase… MESSAGE!)

During one of the visits from my sister, I had her video record something that I wanted to say to my ‘adoring fans’ (whoever they were). Let me say here, it is not a good thing to say or do anything immediately after taking a dose of pain meds.

My short speech started good. However, as the meds kicked in the front door on my logic centers, my ability to be coherent stepped out the back door. Drugs will make you say and do things that you normally wouldn’t.

Drugs were part of the reason that I was in the predicament that I was in anyway. I was attending that job fair so that I could secure a job to pay for my special housing provided through the drug rehab clinic where I had been receiving treatment.

The things that I had said to my parents…

The things that I had done to procure drugs…

The negativity that passed through my mind daily…

I wanted to stop abusing myself, my family and relationships, and my God-given talents. I was disgracing everything that I touched. And, if I didn’t learn the lessons that I have pulled from this episode of my life, who knows where or how my next repeat of this life-class would be.

I said repeat because this wasn’t the first time that I had found myself in trouble with the law for drug or alcohol related offenses.

We must remember what actions and attitudes landed us in the current situations or be forced to confront the situation again when it comes around full circle. We learn to embrace change by remembering where our choices have placed us. We learn to accept our new selves by stepping up to the next challenge. We learn to build character and integrity by getting up when we have fallen or failed, brushing the dirt off, moving forward, and only looking backward as a point of reference.

Any moment in your life can become a turning point FOR YOU! If and when you choose it to be.

IT’S ALWAYS BEEN YOUR DECISION!

During my rehab, I was blessed enough to be able to leave the confines of the rehabilitation building several times. I remember three occasions vividly: once to have my dad cut my hair in the atrium, once to hang out with a good friend and her family, and once to simply “rub some sunshine on my face”. It was peaceful to spend time in open air. I found serenity in being able to take a deep breath without the subtle taint of medication and gloom so many patients seemed to hold onto desperately as if resolved to a life of self-pity.

To this I say, “PRAY, MEDITATE, SING, HUM do anything to find a modicum of joy in every breath you take. Stuff happens to us all.”

Before leaving the rehabilitation center, my therapist asked what kind of vehicle I would be riding in, for a layout of my house, and whether I wanted a wheelchair or a walker. For the next few days (my final days there), she prepared me for my entrance into my new life. She built up my mobility to that point and no more. The rest she said was up to me.

She did, however, provide me with some continuing education for further developing my body for everyday tasks. She advised me to build upon my current strengths and that they would help me to eventually build my weaker areas.

She was very smart.

I do not believe that she was simply referring to my physical rehab. I had told her that I was an addict early on in my therapy. She commended me, at the time, for being upfront about it and wished me well on my commitments in both arenas – physical development and personal development.

My father once told me about how fertilizer used to be transported out to the west coast on large ships. The fertilizer would be stored below deck. As highly flammable as fertilizer is, sometimes it would burst into flames and catch the entire ship ablaze. Some intelligent person decided to put the fertilizer into barrels and mark on the side of the barrels the acronym S.H.I.T.  At this point, being the witty person that I am, I jumped into my father’s story with this statement: “I guess that means that they Should’ve Had It Trucked.”

“No,” he said. “This meant that the barrels were to remain topside — Shipped High In-Transit.”

All I could say back to him was, “My way was funnier.”

The point I mean to reiterate here is that ‘stuff happens’. You can let it burn you up or learn how to deal with it constructively. Learning what to do with it is your livelihood. Will you sink or float? No pun intended.

A final note for the reader: Whether any of this story made you laugh or cry I hope that some part of it resonates within you. You have a caveat though…

At least now you can say that you have met a person that has run his own self over with his own vehicle!

D Arlando Fortune

Keep it as simple as A, B, C’s; 1, 2, 3’s; and, do, re, mi’s

PS. To learn how to use stories to market your product or service leave your comments below and check out more training here.

PSS. If you missed Part 2 of “What Had Happened Was” click here and read it now.