Update:
With my overall health improving and things going well for me
physically, I’ve decided that I will not necessarily publish a personal update
every day—some days are just too routine to have anything to worthwhile to say. I will plan on posting a Thought for the Day
regularly; however I might skip several days or more between Updates so I have
something to report.
Tuesday afternoon (9/2) I had a doctor’s appointment to receive an
injection in my left eye. Since my
vision in my right eye is so poor that meant for the rest of Tuesday I was
unable to read, use the computer or watch TV, so I listened to music and napped
until the worst of the discomfort was over.
By Wednesday morning my vision was beginning to clear up but I couldn’t
spend too much time reading or using a computer without my eye stinging and
burning. By mid-morning I was seeing
well enough to return to work.
I’ve been waiting for the installer to come to replace my guttering
since late spring. We’ve encountered a
number of delays for various reasons. On
Wednesday morning he finally was able to come and brought a work crew so they
were able to tear off the old gutters and install the new ones all in one day. Last night we had a good rain. It was nice to not hear the splashing of
water overflowing the gutters! All I
heard was the rain hitting the roof. The
gutters worked perfectly!
I’ve been checking out the local gym options. I have a short trial membership at one of
them so I can use the facility and see if I like it. I was happy to find that this gym has several
cardio machines that I should be able to use with my prosthesis. Treadmills and regular style bikes don’t work
for me; but these hybrid-type machines should work I think. I’ll give them a try and see if they really
do. I’ve been doing a good workout at
home; but I am limited to the number of things I can do with my legs
muscles. At the gym I can get a better
workout of these muscles.
I was talking with someone at church yesterday about the difficulty of
standing still versus walking with a prosthesis. It is easier for me to walk than to stand
still for a long period of time (say 20 minutes). When I am standing still, I have to keep
certain muscles taunt and make certain my right leg stays strong constantly. When I walk, I alternate muscle groups back
and forth giving my right leg a rest. I only have to keep those muscles
clinched for a short period, then they get a slight rest, etc. Doing that over and over is much easier than
keeping those same muscles firing for an extended period of time. Perhaps that will change over time, but for
right now that is how it works for me. So
if you see me sit down after standing for a short period now you know why.
One of the benefits of working out at a gym is my leg muscles will
become stronger so that I am able to stand still for longer periods of time, as
well as walk, carry weight, etc.
Combined with the injury to my foot prior to my amputation, I did very
little walking or work with my legs for the last two years. I’ve always had good stamina and strong
legs—so it has been strange not being able to do much and seeing my legs so
weak. Time to rebuild!
I guess as a result of the thunderstorm last night, I am having trouble
getting my home computer connected to the internet this morning. I’ve done my normal resetting the network
adapter and restarting the computer, etc. but it hasn’t responded yet. Hopefully I can get reconnected soon. If this gets published late, you’ll know it
took me longer to get my computer reconnected than I’d hoped.
Thought for the Day:
I knew that the guys from Matthews Windows and Guttering were coming to
the house on Wednesday morning so I waited for them by sweeping and mopping the
floors at home. I’ve neglected doing
them recently, so I found plenty of reason to clean. I was rather amazed at how much dirt and dust
bunnies had accumulated over the last month or so. It wasn’t like I had been getting really filthy
and then dragging in a bunch of dirt and sand each day. But just the small amount of junk sticking to
my shoes or the wheels of my wheelchair each day had brought in enough dirt that
over time it accumulated to quite a sizeable pile. It is rather amazing really. Just looking at the floors I never would have
guessed it. I mean to a guy, they looked
clean enough. But the broom and dust mop
proved that evaluation of the state of cleanliness in my living area to be
wrong!
It is common knowledge that anything left on its own eventually deteriorates. As you grow older, unless you exercise your
muscles will grow weaker. Unless
maintained, a machine or a car will eventually quit running, a house will
deteriorate, and the lawn never stays trimmed by itself. Everything needs constant care.
This “deterioration over time” includes our relationships, as well as
our personal physical, emotional, and spiritual health. When you were younger, you could eat whatever
you wanted and never do a lick of exercise and your body stayed strong and you
were fine. As you age if you don’t watch
what you eat and neglect to exercise you will begin to look like the next Sci-Fi
channel thriller “The Blob.” Neglect
your marriage and the bonds that you and your spouse developed earlier in life
might break or be severely damaged. Stop
spending time or contacting a friend and eventually you will become strangers
to one another. Let every stray thought
that enters your head, stay without being challenged and you’ll develop a
mental mess of anxiety, depression, or harmful thinking. Stop tending to your soul and your spiritual vitality
will wane. Neglecting going to church,
reading the bible and spending time in prayer leaves you open to becoming a
spiritual weakling.
I am making an effort to get back into shape and regain as much health
and vitality as I can. It would have
been easier (and healthier) if I had maintained it all along. Nobody sets out to become unhealthy; just
through a series of small bite-sized decisions we pack on the pounds over time.
Nobody aims to become depressed or develop a negative attitude about
life. Over time, hundreds of small
thoughts and decisions may lead us there; whereas if we had filled our minds
with positive, uplifting thoughts we might have escaped some of the emotional
baggage that we carry (I know that not all depression is caused by this kind of
thinking—but I believe that quite a bit of it is—or at least is made worse by
our daily thoughts and self-talk).
And no one sets out to slip in their spiritual health. Skipping a day or two of not reading the
bible and praying may not hurt you in the long run; but letting it develop into
your general habit is certainly counter-productive to your spiritual
wellbeing. Isolating yourself from other
Christians or from the accountability of friends or loved ones is opening
yourself up to potential spiritual damage.
So take a good, long look at your life.
If you continue down the path you are currently on, where are you
headed? Is it where you want to end
up? If you aren’t happy with the future
you are headed towards, then make the decisions today that will help you to
arrive at a better place. It is never
too late to get started on turning your life around. It will end up being well worth the cost and
effort that it took.
1 Timothy 4:8 “Physical
training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits
in this life and in the life to come.” (NLT).
No comments:
Post a Comment