Monday, June 20, 2016

For the Rest of My Life I will Have to Push Through the Pain


Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome.

- Booker T. Washington


              Now this title may sound a bit depressing, and I guess it is, but bear with me. This past week was very quiet and I have decided to use this as an opportunity to answer my most asked question: Who writes the blogs? So I am going to be a little selfish today and tell you about myself. Yay!


               Well this is me. I was graced with the name Madison Marie Karakis on my date of birth, but I typically go by Maddie. I am Nick’s dorky, eldest daughter ( of three ), and I don’t have to ask because I already know that I am the favorite…duh. I am an animal lover, artist, singer, and writer. Because of my wonderful father I also love to hunt and fish. I am currently 19, and if you come to stay in August my birthday falls on the 8th. Oh and I really like presents (hint hint). But seriously please don’t bring me presents my dad might actually kill me haha! I am currently enrolled at The University of Findlay in Ohio for pre-vet and animal sciences, but for personal reasons I plan to transfer somewhere new and start back this spring semester. Please try to refrain from asking me what I plan to do with my life unless you want a 4 hour long conversation and a rant about the cost of school. Approach the topic at your own risk. I am in love with the color green, and can talk for hours about animals and my achievements in FFA. I am an avid republican (sorry not sorry). I have a relentless hatred for mosquitos and the color pink.
              Now you are probably wondering where the title came from. I am going to divulge in a little self pity for a moment. When you are here you may notice that on occasion I may disappear for a day, or you may see me sort of hobble around. About a year and a half ago I was diagnosed with severe Rheumatoid Arthritis. *Gasp!* Queue the comments about being too young and sorry that I have to deal with it. It has been hard yes, but it is what I like to call a silent disease. You can’t see it (usually), and you can’t tell it hurts unless the person says so. It is one of those things that is impossible to explain the impact it has on your life to someone who doesn’t have it. Now the point of this is not to make you feel sorry for me, but to tell you how Wine Lake has helped me in dealing with it these past few months.
My Home
 
The pain in my joints does not compare

To the view before my eyes

A sight of like I’ve never seen before

From the trees to the blue of the skies



The joyful chatter of friends and family

As they talk about their day

And the sounds of children’s footsteps

As they run around and play



The birds will chirp as the squirrels will play

The sounds of motors flow through the air

From the trees, the cabins, all around the place

They fill the camp with cheer



There is the smell of gasoline and flowers

As it comes to tickle your nose

And the smell of fires, fish, and charcoal

That clings to everyone’s clothes



Though illness tries to grab me

And pull my spirit to the ground

All I need in order to heal me

Is to take a look around



And while my joints may ache and hurt me

And my arthritis is a pain

I have this beautiful world around me

And my pain is not in vain



It is beautiful and peaceful

And you never are alone

It is for all these many reasons

That I can call Wine Lake my home



-Madison Karakis



              Now I have definitely struggled a little bit with my pain this last week, but still I would rather be here than anywhere else. The people here and the atmosphere give me a reason to keep doing what I am doing no matter the pain.

              So, since you know more about me I have a little about these past 2 weeks for you. Last week was the first week that we have had a lot of younger kids, and let me tell you some of them put the adults to shame! Man did everyone hammer fish last week.
             These are the fish entries for 2 days. There had to be at least 500 fish here. It took 2 and a half hours to get   them all on the board. It was incredible! On top of that we had lots of young ones helping to clean fish.



It was a very good week for the boys in the family to get together and bond. But hey, it is not limited to boys. When I was little I would go hunting with my dad, and we would be surrounded by dads and their sons. Guess who kicked their butts every time…me duh. So don’t be afraid to have a daddy-daughter week.

              Two weeks ago there were two 36” Lake Trout caught that I was unable to show you because I did not have the pictures yet, but they were truly huge! Take a look:




              Awesome right? It is amazing what you can find here in this lake! Although there wasn’t too much excitement this week we did have our first ever fish competition tie! There was a huge battle over the money and few made it out with their lives, it was all very emotional. Just kidding the boys were very civil about it and were able to work it out.




       There were some more exciting events such as bunnies, and egg laying. But the best part was when I challenged my dad to a game of corn hole and totally kicked his butt! Just kidding…I couldn’t even beat him in my dreams! It was still fun though! I am so lucky to have a guy like him!


              It was a very nice week; the weather was very average. We got to enjoy a little of everything. Now as for pushing through the pain: yeah sometimes I hurt, it can be hard to deal with, and sometimes it can bring me down, but it is not a stop sign. It acts as a yield. It may force me to slow down, but maybe just as a reminder to stop and smell the roses haha. If everything was the same then nothing would exist. Everything would be black, and who would enjoy that? So yeah, I have an obstacle, but this obstacle causes me to lie a little differently. To think outside the box for solutions. Most importantly it helps make me stronger every day when I feel like I can’t get out of bed and I do. When you feel like you will never be the same as anyone else remember to look for WHAT makes you different not WHY you are different.

              I will leave you with this: everyone’s life is different. There are different struggles all the time. Different challenges may take different tolls on people. Before you decided someone has it much easier, or much harder than you understand than in order to see through someone else’s eyes you must first understand what you are seeing through your own.