I once had to use crutches for 2 months, with absolutely no weight bearing on the injured leg. All I could think of that whole time was walking again. The day I finally got the go-ahead, I threw down my crutches…and my leg wouldn't respond. Because I had not used all the body parts that are needed to coordinate the task, they had forgotten how to do something I took for granted. It was a great reminder to not take things for granted and to never lose respect for the many wonderful things I am designed to be able to do.
I love helping people pursue health. But one think I dislike about working in medicine is all the focus on what is wrong…at the expensive of remembering what is right.
So today, I wanted to take a post and challenge you to think about, and take a moment to be grateful for, the many things your body did for you today. It doesn't make the problems any less important, at all. It is just a way of putting those problems into proper perspective.
Did your body…
…smell a spring flower?
…hug a loved one?
…inhale lungful after lungful of oxygen to nourish your muscles and brain?
…laugh at a joke?
…read an e-mail?
…remember how to get you to work?
…carry a bag of groceries?
…caress a puppy?
…digest your lunch?
…hum a favorite song?
…support you as you stood up from your desk chair?
…let you know that you needed to scratch an itch?
…support your weight and balance you as you ran your errands?
…pump blood through your heart and blood vessels all day long, even when you were not consciously thinking about it?
…remember how to spell your name as you signed that credit card receipt?
…sort through all the vitamins and minerals and antioxidants in all the food you ate and send each one exactly to where was needed?
…maintain a constant temperature?
…remember the difference between a square and a circle?
…filter toxins from your blood using your kidneys?
…heal a wound?
…prompt you to instinctively use your brakes when the traffic light turned red?
…coordinate your fingers through all the typing tasks you asked it to do with your computer?
Then you are, indeed, quite amazing. Celebrate yourself. Use your talents, skills, and abilities to do good. Treat yourself with respect. As such a miraculous creation, you deserve nothing less.
For more inspiration, check out this interview by my friend Isabelle Tierney.