In October of 2013 I made an appointment with an orthopedic to have my lower back examined. I would get the surprise of my life that morning. I needed a hip replacement. It gets better… not one, but both of my hips (bi-lateral hip replacement). I was blown away.
So after finding a great surgeon, in February of 2014 I had the surgery. Three days later, without walker or wheel chair, I walked out of the hospital. There were many people praying for me and I am so grateful to the Lord who answers prayer.
But what was interesting was the responses I got from people as I shared the need for my surgery. “You are going to wait right?” “Both at the same time?” “I would put it off as long as I can.” The truth is, if I had delayed the surgery the pain would have been prolonged, the healing could have been more difficult and the quality of my life would suffer. I had to make a choice; stay in destructive pain or move to constructive pain. Sometimes we don’t think we have a choice when we really do.
This process comes in many types and flavors, some more complex than others. We hold on to things that bring us pain and for a myriad of reasons. Some are found in last week’s post. A list which I’ll call destructive pain. So the lifelong question is, how bad does the destructive pain have to get before we take action? (constructive pain)
The pictures above taken by my brother-in-law Ralph are my legs before the surgery. My legs don’t look like that anymore. In place of the surgical marks are two scars, one on each leg marking a place of change. These markings involved pain, faith, money, time, perseverance, prayer, patience, risk, etc. They serve as reminders that something happened, a choice was made. A choice to get better, to heal, to move forward, to choose life.
“The secret of success is learning how to use pain and pleasure instead of having pain and pleasure use you. If you do that, you’re in control of your life. If you don’t, life controls you.” Tony Robbins
Remember we are all works in progress.
It’s a new day, live it.
