On September 7, one year ago, I came home from the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, Georgia. I went there hoping for a lot of new changes and progress. I had previously had a major set back after a shunt revision, and couldn’t move…again. I was ready for a new place and a new experience.

Before I went to the Shepherd Center, I didn’t get out of bed very much. Not because I was sad, tired, or hurting, but because it was just what I was used to. While I was there, I got up about 8:30 every morning and I didn’t go back to bed until almost 9 that night. I wasn’t used to this, but it wasn’t hard to do. Fast forward an entire year and I spend all day out of bed! I am still using my chair, but it gives me so much freedom. Now, I couldn’t imagine staying in bed all day and I don’t know how I did. I didn’t realize how much life I was missing. I get up as early as I can and I go to bed when everyone else does. Even though I didn’t make the progress I expected to while I was there, one thing I learned was that there is more to life than staying in bed all day.

Sometimes we have to try something new to show us another side of things. It’s crazy that when we stay in our same routine every day, we don’t even challenge it until we are forced! The schedule at Shepherd’s got me out of bed- if I had never gone, I may have never realized what I was missing. The routine I had really limited me. I wonder how many times we stick to routines that are limiting because we don’t know any different? Is there a challenge you could take or something you could change today to help push you out of your routine and into a new perspective?