resilient

This story speaks from the perspective of a 80 year old who has suffered from multiple strokes and back problems which blocks him from doing the things he loves most. He loves to work, golf, tend to his farm, and is very family oriented. He always strives to find the silver lining in every situation and is resilient in his experience with his past strokes and other physical ailments.

With the help of my faith and confidence in myself, I recovered completely. Sometimes though, I feel that the stroke has left me impaired mentally a bit. Sometimes, I feel my memory is not as good as it used to be and my ability to calculate things mathematically and mentally has worn down a bit. But then, these days, you have now computers and calculators so you can overcome that, otherwise you would have to do things mentally which now we don’t. Physically, my impairment has been my back problem. Even after my second stroke, my heart still beats, so I haven’t lost my courage. I do sometimes think that “this is not going to work,” but I have overcome that. I have overcome that to the point that I will start playing golf, an activity that gives me so much joy and banned to me by my doctor because of my back problems. It is getting better and that is because of my sheer persistence, exercise, and refusal to give up.

I sometimes wonder how the stroke has affected me. My mental ability. And I feel sad about it, but there is nothing I can do about it. I have read some books on people who have had strokes, and how they came out of it. I mean, some people just get paralyzed completely, but I was lucky. Maybe the stroke was not that severe, maybe I had the willpower and felt I had more to do with my life. My responsibilities are not over. Sometimes, a person feels that they are done, then he doesn’t have the will to fight, but I had that…I kept on telling myself that I would succeed, and I did. I have done well in life because I have a lovely family which adds to everything beyond the money. The thrill is my family and I am hoping and praying that my family will stay together. There is a tremendous amount of value in strength in unity, although you may not need anybody, it is good to be united.