Welcome to a sunny Adelaide morning - and welcome to Thankful Thursday, which by definition follows the Wednesdays I love.
Be sure to listen to the music clip listed above and I am clearly going to make that my theme song and anthem.
It has been chilly and a little wet overnight and as I lay in bed deciding to get up and start my day I wondered what I would write about today. Most times something gels and I know which direction to take but this morning was somewhat different.
I checked my mail and my Facebook page and found a lovely video clip there from DonnaRae Erikson and I am inspired to share with you - please watch and I hope it inspires you too.
Life for so many people is different - changed forever, but the main thing is that thanks to the generosity of others, they are, I AM alive and well and living life to the full.
Taking a journey back over the last two and a half years - it has been a rough road, there have been highs and lows and some very difficult days, but truth is I came through and can truly say that I have been given a second chance at life.
These are photographs taken on Tuesday - 67 weeks post transplant - they are not perfect photos, but my eyes are bright and not yellow, I am well enough to go to the hairdresser, and able to live an ordinary life. Ordinary is wonderful.
I have been home from hospital for a year now and each day holds new promise and I see things through clearer eyes.
I view things differently - I am carrying very little emotional baggage (tossed that overboard), learning to not sweat the small stuff and I don't play with or run with the "woulda, coulda, shoulda Sisters, ) No "what ifs" for me - I can't change things so just accepting them for what they are brings a peace of mind not known before.
I find such joy in the little things that I also view differently - raindrops on a rose, a spider web, the beautiful pattern on the wings of a moth which settled near me, sunrise, sunset and autumn leaves and oh so many more things.
I admire the skills that people have honed in their lives, the patience to get up one more time, the tenacity to just keep going in spite of the odds. I value the people around me - those who drive delivery trucks, clean hospitals, answer telephones with good grace, deliver my mail, Medical teams, who after years of study and hard work, share their skills, and my family who love me, even when I am unlovable, because that's when I need them most.
I have met people with a similar mind set - who, having gone through deep water in their journey are wonderful advocates and ambassadors for Organ Transplant. Young and older - their lives have been changed, so too the lives of their families. It is that word that I adopted for 2011 - 'ATTITUDE'
and I want to live each day with an "attitude of gratitude"
What else could my gratitude for today be other than:
"I am grateful for my liver donor and the wonderful gift I received."
I am grateful also to my Donor Family - each day that I celebrate life is another milestone in their lives - another day they are without their loved one.
So on this "Thankful Thursday" I offer my thanks for all the wonderful things I have, the places I can go, the friends who care and share with me, I offer my thanks for the gift of life.
Of course, I couldn't bring this post to a close without reminding you to have "that conversation" with your family about organ donation - remind them of your wishes and be sure to mark your drivers licence and register with the appropriate body in the country you are in.
In Australia registration can be done on line at:
Learn all you can and encourage those around you to do the same - read my story in "The Book of Life" page 63 - http://www.donatelife.gov.au/
So here I am at the end of a blog which has just come from my full and grateful heart, and on this "Thankful Thursday" I offer my thanks to you for visiting and reading "The Musings from My Heart."
Love and hugs,
