January 23rd - Reality seen by the light of the sun and Son

The story...

My lower-back pain, caused by pinched nerves and sore muscles, is real and personal.  I behave in a way that I "think" works for me.  I feel the results and compensate in a manner that I expect best relives the discomfort while allowing me to do what I want to do.  Yet, sometimes a muscle will be sore from my stretching, exercising, or doing what I do - then I tend to stop and wait to feel better. 

When my routine doesn't work anymore - I ask a doctor for help.  They perform an MRI to observe the hidden reality.  They show me the amount of spinal stenosis, disc bulging and protrusion, positioning, arthritis formations, damaged parts, and joint wear that naturally occur over time.

Ideal spinal alignment & posture

In January, my back surgeon recommended that I try epidural shots and physical therapy to help restore me to active duty.  I was hopeful for the shots but had little hope for the therapy.  I was discouraged - I wanted the surgeon to just fix me and restore me to "normal."

My physical therapist is speaking a new reality to me from different perspectives.  She's coaching and encouraging me to change my routine, habits, and understanding of how my body really works.  She's shinning new light on the reality of my body, routines, habits, and physical condition.  I trust her even though a back muscle is sore today as I'm readying for a new therapy session.

I expect that we'd all agree that self reflection at the beginning of our morning and at the end of the day would be good for us.  It's likely that we would also agree that looking at our lives from different perspectives other than our limited selves would be good too.  Imagining a reality, that's different then what's actually going on, might provide some temporary mental comfort yet reality wins in the end.

Self reflection and a desire to know and understand our reality is a wonderful human capability that we can choose to exercise - we can also ignore it.  The only church in town will encourage you to see reality from multiple perspectives within community and more importantly from the reality revealed by our God - our creator.  He made us the way we are and has provided for our freedom in this life and for the eternity to come too - He's the object of my faith.  

Just for today...

"I choose to accept the reality of my life. I am moving in a healthy direction, growing ever more able to live a good life and to love those I meet along the way."  Courage to Change (p. 23)