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| Chris speaking at GWI 2014. Photo by Ryan Johnson. |
The
week of our snow and ice in Georgia, I gingerly stepped and carefully drove to
avoid any ice-related accidents. When most ice and snow had melted and the
weather warmed, I decided to go for a run, proudly wearing my sleeveless
neon-blue running shirt and shorts in which I look quite good if much too blue.
(Looking good enhances my workouts and my running, as with most athletes!)
But
before I got out of the guest parking lot of our complex, I fell sprawling on
the pavement, catching myself with my hands, scraping them and one elbow and
both knees. I wish I could blame slipping on ice or tripping on shoelaces or
debris, but the asphalt was dry as a bone and clean as a whistle.
I
picked myself up, went back to our unit, scrubbed my wounds to avoid infection,
treated them with antibiotic cream, and bandaged the bleeding scrapes and
cuts. “Pride goeth before a fall,” the judging
Proverb came to me. I realized that wearing my usual winter garb for running—long
sleeved shirt, gloves, and long running pants—would have minimized my injuries.
Yet
pride is also what prompted me to proceed with my long run—puffy and bruised
knees, multiple bandaids, and raw skin notwithstanding—this time wearing my
long-sleeved running shirt. Though the fall was humbling, pride is what made me
get back up and start again.
As
I ran, I thought back on the four days I had spent that week at the Georgia Winter Institute 2014, meeting in a former Confederate weapons factory in Columbus,
Georgia, south of Atlanta, where I live. GWI’s mission is stated in one sentence: “The
Georgia Winter Institute connects people with and without disabilities to work
together to nurture and use our gifts to strengthen community bonds.”
In
my closing keynote I told the assembly of a gathering of people living with HIV
and AIDS, their families, friends, volunteer and professional caregivers near
Detroit. “I have no memory of what I said to them,” I explained, “I absolutely
remember what they ‘said’ to me. As
we helped them carry all their medical paraphernalia from their cars to their
rooms at the retreat center—their IV drip bottles and tubing, their medicines,
oxygen tanks, and various pieces of special equipment—all I could think of was
how determined they were to participate in this event, to be part of the
community. And by contrast, I thought about how many people pass up on going on
retreats or building community simply because it’s ‘inconvenient.’”
They
had been knocked down, so to speak, but they had gotten back up again. And
that’s what I witnessed among those gathered in Columbus. Perhaps their pride
is challenged by how the culture, government, medical establishment, and houses
of worship are inadequately mindful of their gifts and challenges, whether
their own or those they love or serve, but pride is what gets us all back up
again.
Other posts related to running mishaps:
Last week’s post also about GWI 2014:
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Interesting. Perhaps i do need to give in to pride right now but ... wow. I need to let this idea simmer. thanks for this idea.
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