One morning I got up from bed, went downstairs, started coffee and sat at the kitchen table waiting for the first warm cup of the day.  I gazed out the window searching for signs indicating spring was on its way.  I sat wondering what the day might bring when I realized for the first time since my introduction to disability I had stepped into my day without wondering how I was going to do it!  I didn’t sit at the edge of the bed waiting for the courage to stand up.  I wasn’t held captive by fear of the day.  I just got up.  I recognized a miracle – a milestone in my compensation!  I did it without thinking about it.  I was able to gaze out the window for signs of a new day, a new season, new possibility and opportunity.  That was huge! 

I began to wonder what other milestones I had missed.  Simple things that would tell me I was making progress.  Things like getting up and stepping into other areas in my home without mapping it out in my head first.  Things like making dinner, while still holding onto counters, but not thinking about it, just doing it.  Things like getting in and out of the shower through a self designed process, but not thinking about it.   My auto-pilot was beginning to work again!  It suddenly dawned on me how I was the culprit of my noise, how my constant thinking about how to manage my constant everything disability was getting in the way of just being with the silence of what was right in front of me. 

I began to wonder about the milestones happening every day yet going unnoticed.  The little things that help us step into a bigger and better place, but because we don’t notice them we don’t realize that they even exist.  And, because we don’t realize they exist, we don’t realize our own amazing accomplishments.  The key is to pay attention.  Direct, silent attention.  What a difference…