Harriet Cabelly, LCSW
Therapist . Speaker . Author
“There’s a lot I don’t have that other people have, but there’s a lot I have that other people don’t have,” Aimee Copeland told Katie Couric on her new talkshow today. “I have different abilities.”
I walked into my mother’s doctor’s office this afternoon and found the TV muted with the new Katie Couric show on. I saw this young beaming woman on the screen with arms but no hands, with one prosthetic leg and no other sitting there radiating a beautiful smile and speaking words of wisdom way beyond her 24 years young. A waiting room filled with people, I asked if I could turn up the volume. And for the next 45 minutes, I sat there mesmerized, to the point of when it was my mother’s turn, her aide reassured me it was fine for me to remain watching.
As I’m sure many of you remember from the news that back in May this woman contracted a flesh-eating bacteria from a cut in her leg. Against all odds, she miraculously survived. And now in a most incredibly high and positive-spirited manner, she’s rebuilding her life.
How many of us might want to end our life having lost parts of all our limbs? After all, our bodies are what carry us. And yet when asked if she ever felt like dying, she said how she loves life – “ It’s a beautiful thing… even more so now.”
Externally there’s been a lot of loss for Aimee. But internally there already appears to be so much gain. And that is carrying over into the world at large as she is infuses us all with her tremendous way of living despite and because of her trauma.
Katie Couric said such a wonderful statement to her: “What you don’t have is so eclipsed by what you do have.”
We all have “what we don’t have” in life. Can we “eclipse” our ‘don’t haves’ by what we do have? Can we focus more on the good in our lives and bring that to the forefront? Can we use our strengths and hone in on the gifts of life to carry us through our struggles?
Please take 2 minutes to watch this clip:
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/video/aimee-copeland-katie-i-love-life-17211808
(Photo above by ABC – The Katie Couric show)
It’s funny, because I was once going to suggest you interview her, but I didn’t think she was in good condition yet. But that clip was great and so nice to see how good she looks and seems after going through everything she went through.
Very interesting and inspiring. Like you say, focus on the good, not the negative. Most people focus on what they don’t have rather than what they do have. Time to start appreciating what we do have. Keep it up Har.