Radical Acceptance

I had read the first few chapters of the book that was recommended to me. Now I had difficult holding a book! I ordered the audio version of the book from Amazon. When it did not arrive promptly I finally had the presence of mind to called Amazon. It seems I had inadvertently ordered the cd's instead of the mp3 download. Customer Service graciously took the cds off my order and waived any increased shipping costs. I went back on-line and tried to figure out their new "Audible Auto" service. I was finally able to download the book to my iPad. I went to bed Monday night letting Tara Brach talk me through her book. Strange, sleeping with a iPad, pillows piled to keep my left hand elevated above my heart, ice packs all around, and somewhere, on the far side of the bed, my husband of 41 years!!

 It wasn't until the next morning that I called them for advice on how to download it to my smaller Sony Walkman. Turns out they support Sansa, but not Sony. Bob helped me load the book on my old Sansa I had given to him. I now had two devices that would read the book to me.

I was using Tara's instruction as Paul Knitter said "using a Buddhist bucket in my Christian Well," to me, the well of living water that Jesus promises will rise up within His followers. The techniques helped me to get calm and the medication did it's work. I took the pain pills. I used the ice packs on both hands. I returned to rest and stillness and quietness and trust that the Lord is in control of my healing. It was not easy, but it worked.

By Tuesday evening I was able to begin backing off the medication AGAIN. Learning to use my right hand only with a brace on it was difficult at first. Over time I have gotten the hang of it. Now, two weeks later, yes, I still have arthritis in my right hand, but when it shoots twinges of pain, I know to be careful not to overuse it or I might reap lightning crashes of pain.