ME: Wow! I guess what they say is true, having a stroke really does put a crimp in one’s style.
You: Wait! What? Who…?
Me: Yeah. I didnt realize …well, I suspected…
YOU: Are you saying you had a stroke?
Me: Yes, that”s what the MRI shows.
YOU: HOLY COW! YOU ALL RIGHT? How…
ME: Remember, I recently said I injured my wrist and hand?
YOU: Vaguely…
Me: I thjought it was the consequence of a recent bout of exercise…Turns out I had some minor bleed on the right side of my brain.
You: Oh…any …
ME: Effects? A little numbness in my left arm and hand. No problems walking, talking, or brushing my teeth.
You: Let me guess. You have some thought to share.
ME: Nothing too profound. Upon realizing I had a stroke, I rememberd two lines from Andrew Marvel”s “To His Coy Mistress”:
“But at my back I always hear
Time’s winged chariot hurrying near”
Time has been following closely behind since my birth, but I have largely ignored the sounds of those hoofs as I believed it was I doing the chasing or believed a finite being like me was winning the race against time. Ah! The folly of hubris. The folly of a finite being in a race with an ineluctable outcome.
YOU: Are you confessing to hypocrisy? Aren’t you the one always declaring, “This is not your practice life”?
ME: As I’ve said elsewhere, There’s hypocrisy or contradiction in every life. There’s always the problem of hubris, the “root” of “sin.” That’s that tale in Genesis about the fruit: pride prevents the obedience; pride encourages an artificial independence and convinces the Ego to self-apotheosize. I believe there”s a god-drive in many of us. It drives the young to take risks because of an assumption of invulnerability.
YOU: Consequences?
ME: Personally? Yes. I ignored the first signs of the stroke, such as my ring finger on my left hand not hitting its assigned keys as I typed. It was also sluggish to respond. Then, still believing in my invulnerability, I drove a 20-hour round trip to see an ailing relative in a 3-day period. Hubris, folly, and a risk to my lovely wife and those I passed on two-lane roads. Fortunately, nothing happened. The minor stroke stayed minor; no loss of any speech, awareness, right hand, legs, or desire to yap out another blog.
YOU: BRIEF LESSON?
ME: Self awareness. Humility. We reduce ourselves to fools without both.
You: Wait! What? Who…?
Me: Yeah. I didnt realize …well, I suspected…
YOU: Are you saying you had a stroke?
Me: Yes, that”s what the MRI shows.
YOU: HOLY COW! YOU ALL RIGHT? How…
ME: Remember, I recently said I injured my wrist and hand?
YOU: Vaguely…
Me: I thjought it was the consequence of a recent bout of exercise…Turns out I had some minor bleed on the right side of my brain.
You: Oh…any …
ME: Effects? A little numbness in my left arm and hand. No problems walking, talking, or brushing my teeth.
You: Let me guess. You have some thought to share.
ME: Nothing too profound. Upon realizing I had a stroke, I rememberd two lines from Andrew Marvel”s “To His Coy Mistress”:
“But at my back I always hear
Time’s winged chariot hurrying near”
Time has been following closely behind since my birth, but I have largely ignored the sounds of those hoofs as I believed it was I doing the chasing or believed a finite being like me was winning the race against time. Ah! The folly of hubris. The folly of a finite being in a race with an ineluctable outcome.
YOU: Are you confessing to hypocrisy? Aren’t you the one always declaring, “This is not your practice life”?
ME: As I’ve said elsewhere, There’s hypocrisy or contradiction in every life. There’s always the problem of hubris, the “root” of “sin.” That’s that tale in Genesis about the fruit: pride prevents the obedience; pride encourages an artificial independence and convinces the Ego to self-apotheosize. I believe there”s a god-drive in many of us. It drives the young to take risks because of an assumption of invulnerability.
YOU: Consequences?
ME: Personally? Yes. I ignored the first signs of the stroke, such as my ring finger on my left hand not hitting its assigned keys as I typed. It was also sluggish to respond. Then, still believing in my invulnerability, I drove a 20-hour round trip to see an ailing relative in a 3-day period. Hubris, folly, and a risk to my lovely wife and those I passed on two-lane roads. Fortunately, nothing happened. The minor stroke stayed minor; no loss of any speech, awareness, right hand, legs, or desire to yap out another blog.
YOU: BRIEF LESSON?
ME: Self awareness. Humility. We reduce ourselves to fools without both.
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