Practice Perspective

I enjoy living near the ocean. Brent and I try to take a once a week walk with Akili at Dillon Beach. We all love it. Our mantra is “the beach is beautiful in any weather.”

On our last trip out there I took these two photos. On the left you can see the beauty. What you can’t feel is the gale force wind! On the right you can see specks in the sky showing that the weather was perfect for the kite surfers. Isn’t so much of life about our perspective? Weather that made it hard for us to actually walk down the beach was perfect for these athletes.

I’ve been thinking a lot about perspective and the word practice lately. I’m learning my new physical therapy program to move beyond the pain from radiation and its taking practice. The plan is to perform the stretching & strength training at least 2x weekly FOREVER. Ug that’s a long time. Per my physical therapist it will greatly decrease the possibility of getting lymphedema from the removal of my 9 lymph nodes… It’d be awesome if this regime was something I could achieve once and complete it- like purchasing a new outfit that looks great every time I slip it on 😉

The reality is that this regime will be a new part of my life. If I don’t practice it, I’ll loose the strength and mobility I gain from it. I first learned this perspective after a surgery that didn’t have the desired result. When I was 18 a horse put all its weight on my foot “crushing” it. This began a journey of healing and in my early 30’s I decided to have surgery to remove what felt like a shard of glass in the bottom of my foot (bone spur). Unfortunately the result wasn’t what I’d hoped for. I no longer was walking on what had felt like a shard of glass, but a serious nerve condition set in called complex regional pain syndrome. Now my right foot always has pain. The level of discomfort is decreased by tools I learned when it was so bad I couldn’t walk across the room. I daily work to keep my mobility by stretching, exercising, doing acupuncture, and managing my weight bearing (i.e. standing & walking).

Learning to use these tools to retain my ability to walk has helped me in the cancer battle. This perspective reminded me to gather the tools I needed. Then the daily practice of using them helped me fight.

One tool I was encouraged to learn to use more via my cancer support group was meditation. I had dabbled with it for pain & stress control but during this process have learned to use it daily via the calm app. It’s amazing to watch controlled breathing relax my body and help decrease anxiety. (I especially love the sleep stories on the app with Humphrey the cat 😻) In meditation they use the word practice. It’s accepted that what you do today needs to be practiced again tomorrow. One never arrives; the ability to be present and relaxed just increases & hopefully we become less reactive in stressful situations.

Walking daily with Jesus is also a practice. We grow but don’t arrive in a place where we don’t need spiritual disciplines (like prayer, time reading His letter to us, or growing with others who are also on a faith journey). These tools when practiced help us stay in His presence. 

Likewise in pursuing a life of gratitude, I don’t expect to arrive. Being thankful will always be something I need to practice. Practicing gratitude will alter my perspective.

John 16:33 (amp) says, “I have told you these things so that in me you may have [perfect] peace. In the world you will have tribulation, and distress, and suffering but be courageous [be confident, be undaunted, be filled with joy]; I have overcome the world. [My conquest is accomplished, my victory abiding].” What a reason to rejoice! No matter how bleak the outlook or diagnosis we still can be courageous, confident, undaunted (what a fun word), and filled with joy!

As we grab hold of Jesus’ hand, let’s feel his scars. Those wounds remind us of His immense love and are what give us hope each day because the most important battle has already been won. His victory is abiding! Let’s practice that perspective.

P. S. If something above is confusing to you, please send me an email.  I’d love to chat more about it. Here’s some garden photos and if you look closely, you’ll find Duke!