Bum, butt, rear end, posterior, tush… Whatever you may call your backside, it’s important to take good care of it if you spend the majority of your day in a wheelchair. You eat well, hydrate, shift your weight and check for redness…but sometimes it still happens. The redness gets worse and you develop a pressure sore… Bummer!

This means you have to stay off your butt most likely in a bed or on a couch. You have to, it’s dangerous to ignore it!

Fortunately, the situation is not entirely hopeless.

When stuck in bed for days I called a friend depressed and self-pitying. His answer changed my attitude and made my long days tolerable and meaningful. He said, “When I have to stay in bed from a sore or sickness I see it as an opportunity to learn and research something I’ve always wanted to learn but haven’t taken the time to.”

Read books or get audio books at the library

Become skilled at Chess and Soduko

Bring your laptop to bed and write that short story you started on a napkin years ago (If you have voice activated software- even better)

Catch up on TV shows and movies on Netflix

Write your Congressman about an issue you want to see addressed

On your feet, from a chair, in a bed…we have the power to change a not-ideal situation into a productive, meaningful one.

Decades ago the Mexican artist, Frida Kahlo, painted from her bed after injuring her spine in a bus accident. Her famous paintings show color, emotion, pain, love…

She wore makeup and jewelry. She met with political leaders. She had lovers. Her life mattered and transcended her death through the paintings she’s left behind.

Frida was an amazing woman and a perfect example that life has color. Sometimes it’s dark. Sometimes it’s bright. But, it’s COLOR nonetheless.

… and also, that there are lots of things you can do in bed! (wink, wink)

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