Having a Heart

I listened to a lecture today for my Psychology class: about a man who has had multiple heart surgeries and was not supposed to live past his first day of life, because his heart did not have the aortic functions one needs to survive without intervention. I listened to the stories of all of his scary and successful surgeries which put pacemakers in him. I learned the joy of having a functioning, fully capable heart is a pure blessing in my life that I have been taking for granted.

I can breathe without the help of a pacemaker or heart surgery. I do not have 10 cancerous tumors in my liver like Randy Pausch had, who was a man who grew from his illness and became stronger, grew in his faith and taught others to achieve their dreams and follow their hearts.

I feel so fascinatingly blessed in this moment, right now, in the present!

I have my family and my home, my loving friends and church community and I have my health.
I have no major health concerns which would take my life.
I have a fully functional brain, mind, and body with no set backs in their functioning.

Life is lovely!
I have many projects and papers to write, Powerpoints to complete and a few Final Exams and a Comprehensive Exam for 7 courses to take. But you know, that's okay! I can do it!

What really matters is the relationships I have and how I act and choose to live my life.

Thank heaven and my Heavenly Father for the divine gift of my body with no disorders or illnesses and the compassion, love and empathy I can emulate from him. I hope to gain more humility and charitable attributes from my Father in Heaven, as a result of finding out more about the important people around me.

Chelsea Merkley