What has changed in your life over the past 19 years?
What are the biggest changes the world has experienced since 1988?
Can you imagine losing 19 years of your life? A polish man has done just that.
Jan Grzebski is a 65 year old who fell into a coma after he was hit by a train in 1988. Back then he was a 46 year old railway worker. He has woken from a 19 year coma to find the Communist party no longer in power and food no longer rationed.
This article from BBC News gives some of the background on the story.
Mr Grzebski says, “Now I see people on the streets with mobile phones and there are so many goods in the shops it makes my head spin.”
His wife, Gertruda, cared for him all those years, turning him every hour to prevent bed sores. What incredible dedication. Friends just kept asking when he was going to die but she just kept loving and caring. I wonder how many of us would be prepared to care that much to put in all that effort over so many years, never knowing if we’d ever see any change.
I find one of his observations on modern life fascinating. You would think that with a new regime in the country, greater affluence and easier access to the basics of life such as food, that people would be much happier with their lives. Mr Grzebski doesn’t see it quite that way. “What amazes me today is all these people who walk around with their mobile phones and never stop moaning. I’ve got nothing to complain about.”
I guess it proves once again that happiness isn’t dependent on our circumstances. It’s a decision we must make, an attitude of the heart.
So, what would you have missed if you were gone for the last 19 years? How do you think you’d react to waking up in our new, highly technological world? Could you have imagined all those years ago that so many people would not only have computers in their homes but that they’d all be connected via the internet?
What are some of the things you wish hadn’t emerged in the last 19 years? I could certainly do without reality TV and especially Big Brother.
I’d love to hear your ideas. Feel free to add your comments below.
Posted by Rodney Olsen
Technorati Tags: Jan Grzebski – Coma – Poland
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