A Tale of a Tailbone

Sister Christina shares the power of humor, along with prayer, awareness, and a positive attitude, as we face the little mishaps of daily life. 

The other evening, as I was nearing the end of a somewhat challenging shift in our convent infirmary, I decided to take advantage of a few free moments and go pray night prayer. We have a balcony, or choir loft, there which overlooks the chapel.    

As is our custom, I knelt for a moment after entering the area before assuming a sitting position for the liturgical hour I was about to pray. This area has a collection of various chairs, free spaces, and stand-alone kneelers, equipped to meet the needs of people in various conditions (e.g., needing wheelchairs, walkers, and the like).

After a short interval of kneeling in the dimly-lit loft, I raised myself from the kneeling position and moved back to sit, assuming a chair was behind me.    

During this process, I realized that there was, actually, no chair behind me. However, it was too late. I found myself squarely on the floor!  

Making the best of it  

Even though it had been a full and, at times, difficult day, I made the conscious decision to make the best of this most recent mishap. I decided to find the humor in it rather than let it become one more thing to get upset about.    

I found myself almost laughing at myself and my lightly injured tailbone.    

Upon closer analysis, I found that I was really not much worse for the wear.    

In the morning, however, I had new mild soreness in my shoulder as well as lower region.    

At least I have a tale of a tailbone to go with it!   

Upon later reflection, I realize how this humorous (if also a little uncomfortable) incident can serve as a lesson. It can serve as a reminder of how far a little prayer, awareness, and positive attitude can take us.   

If I hadn’t been prepared and conditioned by those preceding moments of prayer, I may not have been prepared to handle the situation with lightheartedness as I did.  

It’s all a gift!    

If I hadn’t been given the awareness of the choices before me, I likewise, could have fallen into self-pity or crabbiness as a result.    

I’m not saying that I’m always like this, but the positive attitude I was able (from help from above) to maintain during this incident, is a gift that I would like to carry with me more often.    

These key components, surely, will take us far as we walk with Jesus day by day, even if we do fall and hit our tailbone now and then! 

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Copyright 2024 Sister Christina M. Neumann, OSF
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