Happy Saturday! I feel like a kid waking up on Christmas (or
Eid or Hanukah or whatever holiday you celebrate) morning. Do
you remember that excitement about opening gifts and then looking at all your
new toys and not knowing which one you wanted to play with first? Or the big decision about which of your new
school outfits you wanted to wear on the first day of school? Well, I’m feeling that way today because the
3-day Memorial Day weekend has arrived and I have so MANY things that I am
excited about doing today, even though they involve what many typically call
WORK.
Its early Saturday morning,
still dark outside, and I can’t decide what I want to do first when daylight
appears. The list is endless: garage
saling? Working on my newly dug
pond? Planting the flats and pots of
flowers that have been sitting in the driveway for the past week? Putting air
in my bike tires and taking a ride?
Floating on my big raft in my little 3 ½ foot deep pool? Digging and planting my vegetable garden? Visiting
with my aunts, uncles, and cousins who have come up to Pip’s Place for the
weekend? Sitting around the campfire? Going fishing or walking or mushroom
hunting?
My house is a big mess, but I don’t care. My laundry needs
to be done, but I have plenty of clean clothes to wear, so it can wait. I have
hundreds of unread e-mails in my in-box, but they’ll still be there later. Today
is going to be a BEAUTIFUL, sunny and warm day…..and I have so many fun things
to choose from to do today….so LIFE IS VERY GOOD!
This morning I am overwhelmed with such a sense of gratitude.
Only a few years ago, I would be dreading the arrival of a holiday weekend. My
extended family always comes up to the family cabin to kick off the summer, put
the boats in the water, mow grass, etc… Each of them would be feeling the same
excitement I do today, but not me. I would be miserable because all I could do
was sit in a chair outside and watch everyone else have fun. It was extremely
difficult to even get around, pull that big walker out of the car and try to
get it to the campfire just so I could visit for a few minutes with my family. I
would feel depressed because I couldn’t participate in any of the activities
taking place around me. I had very little to talk to my cousins about because
my life consisted of nothing but pain, medication, sadness, going to work,
eating, going to bed, over and over again every day.
I’d listen as my
cousin told of his son’s baseball game and how great he was playing this year;
but I knew that I’d never be able to go to a game to watch him because it would
be too hard. I’d listen to my brother and his wife telling me of the great
bargains they found at the garage sale down the road, but I knew that I could
no longer garage sale because it was just too much work to get in and out of
the car, let alone try to use the cane to walk up someone’s drive way. I’d
watch as my nieces tried to ride their bikes in the sandy gravel of these up
north dirt roads, but I knew that I hadn’t been on a bike in years and I couldn’t’
even walk alongside them. The entire weekend would be depressing because everyone
was living life and I was merely existing, trapped in my 400 pound body. What a
miserable place to be, but “Theresa doesn’t live there anymore!” Thank you, GOD!
At that time in my life, I had absolutely no concept that my
life could be anything but what it was. I had no comprehension that I would
ever be able to be free from the bondage of weight. I had no hope or faith that
a day like today was even possible. But, by the grace of God, I have been
blessed with this miracle, and here I am, sitting here overwhelmed with a list
of what most people would perceive as just plain “work” and I am
overjoyed! I literally don’t know what I
want to do first and life is so very good, even though by the end of the
weekend, I’ll likely be very stiff and sore from the yard work, sunburned from
being outside all weekend, and head back to work exhausted, I will do so with
an overwhelming sense of gratitude for the blessings that God has bestowed on
me.
So, my friends…. I encourage you today…….If you are waking
up this day feeling like a spectator in life watching those around you LIVE; if
you are feeling trapped in a body that is hindered by weight or addiction; if
you are overwhelmed with anxiety, depression, grief, sadness, pain…whatever; if
you are feeling hopeless and discouraged, I say to you: You do not have to live
there anymore either! This is not how
your story has to end! You cannot always change your circumstances, bring loved
ones back from the dead, suddenly double the size of your bank account, or
eliminate serious illness….but YOU CAN change some things about your life, your attitude,
and your sense of wellness.
Are you willing to put forth the effort? Are you willing to take the necessary
steps? Are you willing to do whatever it
takes? I’m not going to tell you that it
is easy because it absolutely is NOT EASY. It’s not easy to watch everyone else
eat burgers and potato salad. It’s not easy to watch everyone else drink a cold
beer and eat pretzels. It’s not easy to say, “No thanks” when a niece or nephew
offers you a s’more or camper pie at a campfire. Even today, at this point in
my journey, it won’t be easy to abstain from those things….but, my friends….. I
AM TELLING YOU…. It is so absolutely, positively worth it. The sheer joy and excitement I feel today…..
(And seriously about what? Weeding…digging…planting…biking….things most people would
consider work)….is SO WORTH IT!
Allow yourself a few minutes this weekend to ask yourself
what you would like next Memorial Day weekend to be like. What would you like
to be doing then that you can’t do today?
What would you like your life to look like? And then….What are you going to do about
it? Make the best of what your life is
today…because regardless of your situation or circumstances….each day is a
gift. Don’t waste it; cherish it. Have a
beautiful weekend!
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