Having heart bypass surgery taught me many things about myself, my life, and people in general.  You might think. “What’s the big deal?  You have surgery, you recover, and life goes on”.  Yes, you do eventually recover and your life does go on, but having heart surgery leaves you changed in a way that’s hard to describe.  It has certainly taught me a few huge life lessons, so I thought I’d share them here.

Slow Down.  No, really.

Maybe you think your life isn’t hectic (or maybe it is) and maybe you already think you’re taking it too easy.  I used to think that, too.  Before surgery, I would have sworn to you that I wasn’t overdoing anything.  I went to work, I came home, and I repeated.  But I was also in a cleaning frenzy around our home each and every weekend.  I wore myself out doing ALL THE CLEANING every weekend without taking any time to do anything I enjoyed.  I HAD to do it.  Weekends were the ONLY time I could catch up and get all the housework done.

Because I had to slow down physically after surgery, I had to learn that doing little cleaning jobs here and there would have to be enough.  Yes, it hurt my feelings that I couldn’t do a Super Woman cleaning session anymore, but breaking down those tasks has helped me find the time to fit in a little enjoyment for myself and not wear myself out so much.  So the house won’t get dusted every week and maybe the laundry piles up sometimes.  It eventually gets done and so far this is working out.

You Find Out Who Your Friends Are…And Sometimes You’re Not That Important

I really appreciate the friends and family that reached out to me and really supported me through my recovery from heart surgery.  They showed up to visit, brought food, checked in several times a week on me, checked in with me via Facebook and just generally supported me and cheered me along on this journey.  What was very telling to me is those who I thought would be there for me that actually weren’t.  Even some coworkers that couldn’t offer a “welcome back” after being gone from work for three months.  Now, I completely understand that their lives didn’t revolve around me or my surgery, but it sure was eye-opening for me and it made me appreciate those who really reached out even more.

Gratitude and Perspective

I can tell you without a doubt that heart surgery left me a million times more grateful for the things in my life.  I truly see each day as a gift.  I truly appreciate my health and the ability to get up each morning and be able to get back at everything I enjoy doing in life.  I may have scars, I may move a tiny bit slower, but I’m alive, and I’m so grateful.

As for perspective, that changed greatly for me after surgery.  Those things that I used to stew over, worry about, and just obsess over don’t have a place in my life anymore.  I can vividly remember the moments right before my surgery just sitting there thinking to myself that all of the extra worrying I took on about things in my life was pretty fruitless.  I wasn’t sure if I would make it through surgery, but when I did, I had a huge change in perspective.  I hope this doesn’t come off as sounding like I don’t care about anything, but my faith, family and my health come first and everything else takes a back seat now.  Everything.  I was the world’s worst about worrying about what people thought about me, and being a people-pleaser at work, etc. Not anymore.

I’ve come to realize life really is too short, and as cliche as that sounds, it’s absolutely true.  Heart surgery brought me to a higher understanding about my life values and I’ve vowed to honor them ever since.

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