Finding the Good

Last week I had a pretty traumatic accident. I almost cut the tip of my finger off with a hand blender. I know, what??? I’m not exactly sure how it happened. The container I had the blender in started to tip over and my instinct was to try to catch it with my free hand. The rest is a blur. I was rushed in an ambulance to the ER with the blender still stuck in my finger, and the wonderful doctors were eventually able to extract the blade.

Since that awful day I’ve been experiencing an overwhelming amount of gratitude. There are so many things I am thankful for. As I sat waiting for the ambulance I was really worried that I was going to lose part of my finger. And that for the rest of my life I would have to explain that it was because I had stuck my hand in a blender. I cut my left finger and I’m right handed. My husband usually rides his bike to work, but that day he had taken his car, so he made it home in 10 minutes. The doctors are amazed by how minimal the damage has been. It appears that the blade somehow missed my arteries and tendons, and x-rays show almost no damage to the bone. I have experienced very little pain. And one more thing, we recently moved and are waiting for our new furniture and rugs to be delivered. So I bled all over our hardwood floors instead of new rugs!

Positive reframing is the practice of looking for more positive ways of seeing things. Events themselves aren’t inherently good or bad. It’s the way we view them that impacts our happiness. I could be focusing on how unlucky I was to have had such a bad accident. I could be complaining about having to do everything with one hand or the weird tingling feeling they say could get worse or the hospital bills we’ll have to pay. I could be frustrated about the money I lost because I had to cancel my flight and the seminar I was scheduled to teach. But instead, I am incredibly grateful!

My accident has reminded me that there is always good. If you look for it you will find it. When I start having negative thoughts about anything I just look down at my finger and smile.