Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 645 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

The Fall, Life Lessons Learned The Hard Way – Wisdom Unplugged

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 645 of our trek, and it is time for a 3-minute mini-trek called Wisdom Unplugged. Today we are taking a break from our normal wisdom nugget to update you and chronicle a major life event that will change life for me for several months to come. In fact, I would say that it will certainly impact me for the remainder of my life. It is my hope and prayer that as I share that it will also positively impact your life as well. I have often said, we must accept and live life as it truly is, not as we wished it to be. I guess I also must practice what I preach. So for the next several Tuesday and Thursday Wisdom Nuggets episodes, we will look at…

The Fall, Life Lessons Learned the Hard Way

First, for my faithful readers and regular listeners to my Wisdom-Trek Podcast and Journal, I want to apologize for the delay in episodes over the past couple of days.  I will get caught up on all the days and get back on schedule as soon as feasible.

2017 is turning out to be a year of life-changing and very challenging moments for the Chamberlain family, as I have mentioned in several podcasts and weekly newsletters previously. On April 15^th our granddaughter Hazel was diagnosed with leukemia.  This has been a life-altering event for the entire family, and her path to recovery is a long two-year process, with the potential for many twists and turns along the way. We are already realizing this as her immune system has been too low this past month for the normal treatment regime. I will keep you posted of her progress in the intro comments to our podcast as they become available.

This past weekend yet another life-altering event took place. Here is the beginning of my story that started this past Saturday. I enjoy working outside on the weekends, and this past Saturday was no different. The storms of last week brought down a sizeable limb near our house, and Saturday I was in the process of clearing it and cutting it up for firewood. I had previously asked my brother to also help me cut a limb from a tree in front of our house that was growing over our front porch.

When Jack and his grown son Rob returned from work, they came over to assist.  While I strive to be safe when using power tools, I did not fully grasp the dangers that are inherent when you mix a combination of a large chainsaw, an extension ladder, a fairly sizeable tree limb, and a cement sidewalk. As my mind has flashed back dozens of times to the events of Saturday, the foolishness of my task is now so evident.

I felt that two grown men steadily holding the ladder would provide the platform needed to remove the limb safely. It was not large in diameter, only about 4 inches, but it turned out to be longer than I realized.

I climbed the ladder with the chainsaw to a secure footing height of about 10 feet and began to cut it off.  We were nearly through the limb when it seized the chainsaw blade, which became wedged in place. Jack pulled the limb to the side while I freed the chainsaw and made the final small cut. None of us realized that when I finished the cut that the tension on the tree limb would kick the chainsaw backward propelling me, and the chainsaw, away from the ladder.

Although it is difficult to remember all the details as it happened pretty fast, I do remember that I kept the chainsaw away from my body as I rotated to my left. As I dropped the chainsaw safely away from myself, Jack, and Rob I had rotated to where the left side of my body was parallel to the ground, but there was also a cement walkway, which extends from the front of our house, right underneath my hip when I made contact with the ground. As I rolled onto the grass on my bottom and propped myself up into a partially seated position with my hands behind me, I realized that my left leg was at an unusual angle twisted inwardly.

While the initial pain was not severe, as I tried to move my leg, I realized that something was not right. I calmly mentioned to Jack and Rob that I thought that something was probably broken and asked Jack to call 911 while Rob helped by steadying my back in the semi-seated position.

Paula’s mom was outside walking at the time, and while fortunately she did not witness the accident, we were able to ask her to go inside and let Paula know. Of course, as Paula came running outside she was filled with emotions of concern, fear, and possibly a bit of anger. As I always try to be positive about all situations of life, I expressed that it could possibly be that I dislocated my hip and not be anything too serious, although also being a realist, I knew in my heart that something was fractured.

The local volunteer fire department EMT’s arrived within a few minutes and assessed the situation. Since I had fallen from such a height, even though I did not have any head, neck, or back symptoms, after checking me over they wisely placed a neck collar on me and placed me on a backboard before transporting me to our local hospital.  With every move of my body, it was sinking in that there was the potential for a serious injury.

Since I desire to keep these episodes short, I will continue my story on our next Wisdom Nugget episode which I hope to have published every Tuesday and Thursday once I get caught up with the episodes that were delayed.

I am looking at this challenging time as “Life Lessons Learned the Hard Way” let me know if you have any feedback of how my story has helped you and feel free to share lessons learned the hard way for you.

The lesson from today’s episode is…”Only use a chainsaw when both feet are planted firmly on the ground and only with the proper safety equipment. Your life is valuable; invest in it.”

There are so many lessons we can learn from every event in life. As you will learn in subsequent episodes as this story is now being created, we are so thankful for God’s abundant protection during this time.  My injuries could have been much worse. I suffered no back, neck, or head injuries at all. Jack and Rob were both protected during this time. We are also thankful for trained volunteers that took me to a very good medical facility, which is located less than 10 minutes from our home.

As Psalm 18:30 says, “God’s way is perfect. All the Lord’s promises prove true. He is a shield for all who look to him for protection.”

That’s a wrap for today’s Wisdom Unplugged. Join us for more lessons learned the hard way in subsequent episodes.

As you enjoy these nuggets of wisdom, please encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy. If you would like to listen to any of our past treks or read the Wisdom Journal, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most importantly your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day.

As we take this trek of life together, let us always:

1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
2. Love Unconditionally
3. Listen Intentionally
4. Learn Continuously
5. Lend to others Generously
6. Lead with Integrity
7. Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you tomorrow for Wisdom Wednesday!