We Should Be Thankful
In Nancy Mairs essay "On Being a Cripple" she describes her life after being diagnosis with multiple sclerosis. For those who do not know "multiple sclerosis is a chronic degenerative disease of the central nervous system, in which the myelin that sheathes the nerves is somehow eaten away and scar tissue forms in its place, interrupting the nerves' signals" (par. 7). Even though Mairs is not able to do some of the things she once loved she still describe everyday as "a kind of gift" (par. 6).
After reading this essay I realized how we as Americans sometimes complain too much. We are sitting around complaining about little things and there is people like Mairs whose left leg is so weak that she has to walk with a brace and cane. "[She] no longer have much use of [her] left-hand" and her right side is starting to get weak, but she does not go around complaining all the time. She goes with her life raising two adolescences and taking care of her husband.
People waste time complaining and taking things for granted instead of being thankful of what they have and are able to do. I think that Mairs is a remarkable woman for not letting her disease get the best of her. After reading this essay I realized just how blind we are to what the future holds for us. Mairs was not always "crippled," but an unexpected illness turned her to be. I feel that we should be thankful for what we have and are able to do and need to stop complaining about every little thing that goes wrong in our life.
After reading about the things that Nancy Mairs go through with her illness and how she copes with it, how do you feel when people complain about little things?
