Just a Minute

It was just a minute. Less, really. And everything changed.

I’ve used that phrase a lot and it’s always seemed so inconsequential.

I’ll be there…in just a minute. Hold on…just a minute.

I actually started this blog post a month ago. I was up late (surprise, surprise), mulling over a minute that had resulted in an injury and dreading the next morning. I was just hours away from heading to the hospital for hip surgery.

I hate needles. They terrify me. I knew this surgery would mean a poke or two and was not looking forward to it.

I told myself, it’ll just be a minute. Go to your happy place (a field with puppies, an ice rink or a beach usually) and let the minute pass. I surprised myself by handling the IV really well, patted myself on the back and headed into the O.R. and onto dreamland.

Those first days post-op were really hazy but by the weekend, I’d started feeling this throbbing pain in my calf—despite heavy painkillers. For the next week, I told myself it was probably just from the surgery. The surgeon had even said to expect some ankle pain because of the way my foot was held during the operation. And the physiotherapist didn’t seem worried at all about it, so it must have been nothing.

But I wasn’t sleeping at night because of the pain and then the chest pains and shortness of breath kicked in. Turns out I was sitting on a bit of a ticking time bomb that could make everything change in just a minute. I had won the lottery and developed Deep Vein Thrombosis in my thigh.  A term, quite frankly, I wish I’d never heard.

But those minutes piled up and I realized some very important lessons. Firstly—the human body can put up with a lot. It’s incredible. A masterpiece, thanks to our Creator.

Secondly, we get by with a little help from our friends (and family of course). People gave me a lot of their minutes and I’ll never forget it. Or I’ll try not to at least (I was on some pretty heavy drugs for those first couple of weeks).

That second lesson has taught me to be more careful with those minutes. There were some days and nights I wondered how serious those chest pains were and was there really a chance that my minutes could be up? Surely no. I still had so much to do.

I’m so thankful I still have more minutes. More minutes to catch up with an old friend. More minutes to tell my awesome mom about my day and that I love her.  More minutes to talk about hopes and dreams and plans with my best friend and husband, Sterling. More minutes to see those hopes and dreams become reality.

More minutes to realize the best investment of time isn’t necessarily in doing awesome at your job or watching that blockbuster movie; it’s spending time with the people that mean the most to you.

Not to say doing awesome at your job or catching a movie is a bad way to spend your time. I’ll still try to do both. I’ve just realized I need to be more careful about what I push aside in order to try to do those things.

Too many times I’ve been too busy for this or too lazy for that. Just give me a minute…and I’ll listen to you tell me how your day was. Just wait a minute…and I’ll call you back. Just one more minute…and I’ll be done at the office and meet you for lunch.

But those just a minutes pile up. Then they’re gone. I don’t want to be morbid but this last month has helped me appreciate the value of a minute and I hope the shine doesn’t wear off.

I’m so grateful to have so many awesome people in my life I get to share these precious minutes with. My heart is overflowing with gratitude. And life. And minutes. Lots of them, I hope.