I have spent this week preparing for a special night on our company’s calendar. Each year we set aside an evening to congratulate those who have achieved great success in 2019. The theme for this year’s program is how it takes Courage to reach your goals and how we all need to be encouraged to realize the potential we have inside us. The message is that Courage comes from Believing in yourself so you cross the T out in I Can’t so that you have an attitude of I Can! We then need to trust the process and make the decision to keep moving forward even when there are setbacks and obstacles along the way. For those of you who have been following my recovery from Guillain Barre either on www.caringbridge.org/visit/michaelguthrie or here on the blog, you know it was one year ago this week (3/1/2019), where GBS rendered me paralyzed unable to move for close to three weeks. I then spent 43 days in a rehab facility working hard to regain my strength. Gratefully, I ultimately walked out to head home on April 25th about 6 weeks sooner than those caring for me expected. Guillain Barre took me down just a couple of days after last year’s company celebration so You can understand why preparing for this company event this week has been a soul searching time.
I wasn’t sure what to expect as I approached By day of GBS infamy, March 1st. Walking into JPJ on 2/29 to watch Virginia beat Duke was crazy because the year before I was in the ER while they played their last game of the season against Miami. My friend Dr Diduch coming in after the game with his son Tyler to share 4 things which I will never forget. God loves you. It was going to get worse before it got better. I couldn’t be in a better place to get treated. I was going to get better. He was right on all 4 accounts. What we didn’t know was there would be a fifth. I was going to be given a platform to share the lessons learned from my journey Through adversity
March 1st has come and gone. I was grateful for the folks who remembered and reached out to mark the day but, in all honesty, I was struck by how it came and went without much fanfare. Another day in my “GBS recovery likes routine” new normal lifestyle. Not over doing so that Dottie can relax knowing I am doing everything I can to take of myself. I guess what I am saying here is the answer to the title of this blog is “what motivates me” has changed because of Guillain Barre. I am a little bit closer to living out this scripture in my life. 2 Chronicles 15:7 “But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.” My work now is living a life of faith that encourages others who are struggling in one way or another God does indeed love them and will be there no matter what. After all I have been through I now have the platform from where I can say, “I Can” because “I Believe” and now can move forward knowing God was there before, is with me as I continue to recover, and will be with me always no matter what.
There were a lot of Roy Wheeler awards given out Thursday night. Folks were recognized for their achievements in 2019. One person stood out that night. When announced there was A heart felt response and a long standing ovation. It was for the person who motivates me to e the best I can be. Wife of the Year, Dottie Guthrie
