Recently, I was
talking to my parents as I do most Saturdays.
They live in Louisiana, and I’m in Oklahoma. They look forward to my call, and I look
forward to seeing how their week went.
You see, my dad has had many health issues over the years. He has congestive heart failure and has been
fighting prostate cancer for several years.
Earlier this year, he had gotten pretty weak. He was too weak to
walk, so my mom, the ever faithful love of his life, would pull him in a chair where he
needed to go. He was able to get some
home health visits and started some therapy.
He started getting stronger. Then
a bout with extra fluid caused a setback.
After taking care of that, he once again started progressing.
Mom purchased an elliptical
that sits on the floor while he sits in his chair and pedals. The therapist said he should work his way up to 20 minutes a day. It didn’t take him long before he was able to
do the full 20 minutes. While we were on
the phone this past week, he did 25 minutes!
My dad! The man who is currently
battling bad health conditions exercised for 25 minutes! Now I’m not saying he’s ready to run a
marathon, but he is pushing himself to get stronger. A benefit of this is his outlook on
everything. He smiles more and laughs
more because he feels better.
Now you may be
wondering what that story has to do with me procrastinating. Well, I am often heard saying that during the
school year, I’m too busy to exercise.
This summer, I just put it off. I
felt if I couldn’t do a full 30 minutes to an hour of something then there was
no use to start. Then I talked to my dad. If he can do it, so can I. Today I started on the treadmill. I didn’t win an award for speed or distance,
but I started. And I will continue. When I feel the arms of life pulling at me to
put it off, I will think of my dad. Thanks,
Dad, for being my inspiration!
No comments:
Post a Comment