Living a Life That's Half-Full

"You don’t have a soul you are a soul, you have a body”

I woke up this morning coaxing my aching body from restless slumber.  The pinching on my sciatic nerve causes constant tension in my hips and streams of pain to flow around my waist and down my hamstrings.  Today is the oldest I’ve ever been in my life.  My left arm dangles lifelessly as I wait for the blood flow to reach my arthritic shoulder and revive it.  The three fractures I suffered to my left leg as a teen have now contributed to arthritis in that knee.  Running is out of the question as my gate is more similar to a wounded animal than an athlete.  I reach for a glass of water…and aspirin.

I woke up this morning!  The combination of sciatica and slumber had caused my hips to stiffen…I need to get moving!  This is the youngest I’ll ever be in my life.  The arthritis in my left shoulder caused stiffness over night.  I moved toward the shower where the flow of hot water would help restore it.  My left knee has developed arthritis and, while this is annoying, it’s certainly not something that cannot be overcome.  I’ve learned to adapt.  I used to run more but, was never in love with it.  I’ve found other ways to burn calories that are more interesting and challenging to me.  I reach for a glass of water.

Both of the above scenarios are true.  The cool part is I get to choose which one I’ll live out.  It’s called outlook and we most often hear it characterized as a half-empty or half-full glass of water.  I often need to reset my mind first which leads to transformation in my body and spirit.

We still live in the most amazing country on earth with more opportunity than is experienced anywhere on the planet.  We can worship and pray in public without risk of being arrested.  We have the ability to walk, talk, hear, see, and speak – things we often take for granted because of our superior health care.  And we are richer than just about anyone in the world http://www.globalrichlist.com

My point is, it’s easy to make excuses.  We’ve got plenty of them for not eating right, exercising or praying.  Sometimes we need to reminded of how many more excuses we have to do these things.  When we ponder these things we’ll notice there are a lot of half-full glasses!  1 Thessalonians 5:18 in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.