I'm sitting at my desk, coffee cup to the right, lunch to the left. Outside I can hear the buzz of a neighbor's saw as he is cutting wood for a home improvement project. Bright, gorgeous sunlight is flooding the front room.
From this vantage point, I look back on this week. The week started with me in the hospital until Tuesday. I am surprised at how much has changed since Sunday. I have a better understanding of headaches, rebound headaches, and the meninges. I am astounded at how knowledge of bodily processes can mediate some of the pain. I also have watched a documentary called, The Science of Healing, which talked about exercise, diet, music, visual stimulation, and deep breathing as ways to fix what ails us in this time and that of the ancient Greeks.
Following in their example, the lead researcher in the documentary explores her own experiences with contracting inflammatory arthritis in her knees just after her mother's funeral. She visits a Greek island with some neighbors and finds herself walking the hills and playing in the fresh sea air. While there, her arthritis goes into remission. When she returns home, it comes back. Intrigued, she starts to change her life to reflect the life she lived on the island. She adds walking and swimming to her life, follows a Mediterranean diet, and practices breathing exercises. As she undergoes these lifestyle changes, the arthritis again goes into remission.
That documentary got me thinking about my own life. I have twice been in the hospital because of meningitis. I almost died in September. That is becoming more real to me as each day passes. God didn't want to take me hen, so there must be a purpose for my continued life here. I don't know what that purpose entails. I know that it will draw others closer to God through my example and attitude. I have been thinking a lot about the choices we make each day.
I was craving chocolate last night. The only chocolate in the house was chocolate chips in an inaccessible cupboard and hot chocolate powder in envelopes. Neither was what I really wanted. I wanted a big, crispy chocolate bar. I thought about getting in the car and driving to the grocery store. But, I stopped myself for two reasons. One, it was after 10 p.m. and I wasn't sure the store would be open. And, two, I realized that it was a craving. I wouldn't gain anything by going to get the chocolate bar. I also realized that I really wanted the crunchy aspect of the chocolate bar. So, I ate an apple instead. My body is much happier, and by extension so am I, with my eating the apple and not heavy chocolate.
Does this mean I will always choose the apple over the chocolate? No, it just means in that one instance I made a conscious choice to change my destiny. It will take the accumulation of many such choices to see any difference on the scale in my bathroom. But, that doesn't matter. In the now of last night, I chose health. That is what matters. I know that my purpose involves choosing health. Otherwise, I'd have been gone in September.
What do you think your purpose is? If you know me, what do you think my purpose is?
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