It’s been a really tough year—for all of us. It has been different than all other years before. In fact, for those of us not born this year, it might be one of the worst years. I’ve had some personal things happen this year, and then the coronavirus pandemic hit. That’s why I was half relieved, half disappointed when I found out I still had to get my shots this year.
These shots I have to get are not “normal”, twelve-year-old shots. The needle is filled with a medicine called Botox. It is made to loosen muscles. As far as I know it can loosen almost any muscle. Botox is used from a comestic standpoint as well as to treat muscular disorders such as cerebral palsy. I have gotten Botox since I was three years old. Back then, it was so painful that my dad had to hold me down across his lap. I screamed and cried so much that one of the nurses around me started crying, too.
I get Botox twice every year now, so while I am not used to it, per sé, I know what to expect. It still hurts, but because I get it so regularly, it represents normalcy. Almost no part of this year has been “normal” for me—and most likely, it hasn’t been normal for you, either. It might sound weird that I consider getting six shots in my legs twice a year “normal”, but I’ve never known otherwise. Some kids get shots just at their yearly checkups, if that; I don’t. I do get shots at those yearly checkups; I just don’t mind them. My point is, some of these normal things have made this year a little more tolerable.
So now I am looser and ready to have an open mind. Who’d have thunk that botox would have affected me like that? That’s 2020.
So let’s climb higher with our open minds. What are the things that challenge us? Why do those things affect us this way? Is there anything good about those things? What motivates us?
Botox is one of my challenges. Getting looser is one of the things that motivates me. How about you?