“My dear friend, clear your mind of can’t.”

– Samuel Johnson

Today is day three of my daughter’s recovery from knee surgery.  She is sleeping.  In fact, she has been sleeping now for ten hours, doing one of the most important things she can be doing to encourage healing.  Yesterday was a rough day.  The second day after surgery always seems to be the most painful one.  Maybe it’s because the anesthesia has really worn off and the mind has returned to its full ability to be aware.  As I thought of the small exercises the doctor had assigned my daughter to do, I said to myself, ’she won’t be able to do those today — it will be too painful,’ but she did them.

A friend’s little girl had a far more involved surgical procedure a month ago.  Last night, she was readmitted to the hospital with a complication.  For a whole month this fiercely courageous little eleven-year-old has faced challenge after challenge and setback after setback, always coming back with a smile and a desire to play.  The adults around her are weary.  They get tired and worried and discouraged, but the child simply trusts that all will be well.

How often do we let our thoughts of what might be the outcome interfere with the “can” in our lives?  I have heard it said that children heal much more quickly than adults, and I have to wonder whether it is the spirit of “can” in a child’s trust that everything will be all right that brings them through the most difficult times with such apparent ease and grace.  If we could eliminate the doubts and can’ts from our thinking, could we also discover that we are capable of much more than we think we are?

Healing from an injury is a good tangible example of the spirit of “can,” but don’t you think it applies to the more subtle areas of our lives as well?  How much more might we learn that we can do if we simply cleared our minds of “can’t?”  Whatever it is that comes our way, let’s replace “can’t” with a sense of adventure and a bit of courage to face the challenge and learn what we can do.  It just may make all the difference in the world.  It just may cause us to reach our full potential.