NikiNorman Wellness Infotainment: Wah the Warrior

The Gift

God said, “I am going to give you a tremendous gift.”
“I hope I am worthy of this gift,” I replied.
God said he would inflict me with a disease.
“Disease as a gift?” I asked. I could not fathom illness as a gift.

“What you do with this gift depends on you,” god said.
“You can treat it as a curse, or accept it for what it is.
You can lament or make the best of it. It is up to you.
What you do and how you act will prove if you are a Warrior.”

He struck me with Graves’ disease.
Life was pure hell for a few years.
Loss of memory, pain, and tremors,
But I got better.

I learned that by helping others with Graves’
I could help to heal myself.
I learned that helping others is a worthy cause.
I learned I had the strength to keep going
Even when I had no strength left.
I learned that as bad off as I felt there was another
Who was worse off than I who I could help.

I learned that instead of reaching for a helping hand
I had become the hand that was reached for.
Instead of being in the abyss I was on the edge
Helping others out of the void.

I am a Warrior. I no longer look at a person the same.
I see what is inside them not the shell of the body.
Instead of seeing a person in a wheelchair
I see a person who was given a gift.

I see God gave them a gift too.
I admire their strength.
I admire their courage.
I admire their will.

I pay homage to a fellow Warrior as we pass by.
I thank God for these gifts.
Fore they made me the man I have become.