I’ve had high blood pressure for a couple of years now. I started taking medication for it about a year and a half ago. For some reason this past week it really spiked and I couldn’t get it (my blood pressure) to go down. So I went into panic mode. I quadrupled the amount of blood pressure medication I was taking (self prescribed... stupid, I know). And I started (yesterday) lowering my salt intake and caffeine consumption. I sat still and listened to soft worship music. MJ had me start taking garlic pills and fish oil tablets. Then my brother-in-law told me that I needed to start drinking a little bit of vinegar every day so I tried to do a shot (about 1/4 cup) all at once but it was so strong that I immediately choked and did the whole “spit-take” (like they’d do in old comedies) and it came back out like it was being shot out of a cannon. Yuk! That stuff is nasty. I’m still on the fence about exercising every day but I know that it’s inevitable. Because when your blood pressure goes-up to 170 over 112 it’s time to start making some life changes, right? I was able to get my blood pressure down to the low 140’s over 90. It’s like I was trippin’ and trying everything I could to lower my BP before I died. I was actually a little concerned... no, I was a lot concerned! I didn’t want to go out like that. Dying on the mission field would be awesome but not like that. It would be cool getting attacked and killed in the jungle by some kind of wild beast or being gunned down by some of the locals who were mad that we were sharing the Gospel... but to die of high blood pressure? Talk about ending on a low note! I really feel like God has so much for us to do in Brazil and we’re just getting started, so to stroke-out or die of something like that wasn’t my idea of finishing my course and finishing my life strong. That’s not the story I want my kids to have of their father either. So it’s time for action fatty (fatty being me)
and I can’t wait any longer!
But here’s the million dollar question: “Why do we always wait until there’s a crisis before we give attention to different areas of our lives?” Why do we wait until there’s a crisis in our marriage before we equip ourselves with more knowledge on how to be a better spouse (like reading a book on relationships or going to a marriage conference)? Why do we wait until someone in our family has an issue with pornography before we set-up safeguards for the computer in our home? Why do we wait until there’s a crisis in our lives before we spend some time in prayer (because we need God to bail us out)?
We need to do preventative maintenance on ourselves (physically, relationally and spiritually) instead of solely doing repair work or scurrying to do damage control of something that already broke. It just makes more sense. So, today I’m gonna sit down and make a list of all the areas of my life that are important to me. Then I’m gonna make sure that I’m giving attention to those areas so that I can be proactive instead of reactive.
What areas of your life hold the most value to you? Are you giving any attention to them in the “quiet times” when there’s no drama or do you treat them the way I’ve treated my health (only making changes because not doing anything means death)? Because believe me... neglecting those areas until there’s a problem isn’t the best scenario: )
Taking Inventory,
Jim
PS - There's a lady (Vera) who drives around on a motorcycle here on the mountain. She works for the government and checks on people and monitors their health because most people don’t have cars. The pic up top is of her taking my blood pressure in our dining room 3 months ago. She told me it was high and that I needed to go see the doctor. I guess I should’ve listened back then by I’m a little slow on the uptake sometimes: )
I actually went to the doctor today and got checked out. He checked my BP and said it was high. Then he told me to change my diet and start exercising. He also changed my BP medication. I’m home now and just checked my BP... it’s 121 over 66. Go figure?
No comments:
Post a Comment