LEAVING THE CRUTCHES BEHIND


Most of you remember the ankle sprain I suffered while hiking the Grand Canyon (you are welcome for NOT showing that picture YET AGAIN).  Here I am five plus months later and my ankle is still sore and slightly discolored.  The easy thing to do would be to elevate that ankle and stay off it until it finally gets well.  If I had done that, I would have missed the fabulous trip to the Tetons/Yellowstone.  What I have chosen to do instead is work through the pain.  It hurts like a son of a gun after a few miles of walking/hiking, but instead of stopping, I keep going.  After a while, the pain finally slowly diminishes and then disappears.  The ankle is sore the next day, but with continued stretching and strengthening exercises, it is slowly getting better.  I knew when I sprained it, from past experience, it would be about a year before it was really back to normal.  It offered a perfect excuse to cease all activity and complain endlessly about my injury, but I pretty much have ignored it and kept going.  As I hobbled up the hill this morning, it dawned upon me what great blog fodder this would make.

We all have crutches of some shape or form in our lives.  Those things we lean upon as excuses for our present day behavior.  Dysfunctional families are perhaps at the top of the list.  It is truly amazing we are able to put one foot in front of the other after growing up in Crazyville.  A great example I heard recently,  "My inability to hold a job today was created by my mother's need for perfection."  NOT--I am unwilling to apply for a job, I want to start at the top, or the working conditions are not perfect, but something which happened twenty years ago is preventing me from working.  And how about it's in my gene pool to-----you name it--act crazy, throw hissy fits, drink until staggering, sink into deep dark depression.  I am not denying we all are born with certain propensities, but I am saying we have the capability of doing something about them in some fashion.

BUT, you see, I had this really traumatic event happen in my life in 1963.  I have never gotten over it and it has forever altered my life.  It has driven a wedge in my ability to trust.  I think about it everyday and sometimes get angry at the one who caused this to happen to me.  This sounds pretty serious and I am not discounting our lives being altered by traumatic events, BUT it has been 55 years ago--MORE than half a century!

I need to GET OVER IT and move on!  We should not spend life leaning on the crutch of the past and all that did or did not happen.  MOVE ON!  When we allow past occurrences to stop us from living life to the fullest, we are giving those very negative occurrences free license to continue to have power in our life.  Recognize what happened, forgive those in the wrong, learn from the past, and stay in the present.  There is a great deal of truth in the statement, 



I am not a huge fan of Nietzche, but it stands to reason if we chose to learn from our pain, we will become stronger.  Scar tissue which grows over a wound is very strong--stronger and thicker than the original tissue.  

So rather than dwelling in the past and dragging the heavy ball and chain of past injuries around, cut the rope, throw down the crutches, and live free from the negative.  Use the knowledge of the past to make a better today and always have hope for a better tomorrow.  God has a plan---


13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind
 and straining toward what is ahead, 
14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize
 for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:13-14

8 comments

  1. This is a good article full of common sense except for the quote from this fellow Nietzche. "That which does not kill us makes us stronger!"

    He has obviously never tried diarrhoea !!!

    We had a kid in our class at school called Diarrhoea. Not for the obvious reasons you would think; but because he was the only one who could spell it properly.

    God bless.

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  2. Can even Soellcheck correctly spell it?
    Blessings, My Friend!

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  3. Always good, LuLu. Glad your ankle is s l o w l y getting better. ❤️

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    1. Old age is not conducive to speedy recoveries, Vannie!
      Blessings!

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  4. Yes, Lulu, absolutely! We have to push through and push forward, forgiving the hurts of the past, and trusting God has better things ahead for us. If we let the past control us, we are definitely defeated. Glad your ankle is getting stronger every day!
    Blessings, my friend!

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    1. Always thankful for your encouragement, Martha!
      Blessings, My Friend!

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  5. Liam has been in a cast for 7 weeks now...weak ankles (suffered a bad sprain)...really don't want to discuss that...anyways--great post Lulu. smiles

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    1. Bless him! My trainer told me last week it could be more than a year before it's back to normal. GREAT!
      Blessings!

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Your comments keep my writing and often cause me to think. A written form of a hug or a pat on the back and an occasional slap into reality---I treasure them all!