Appreciate your Health

This past month found me fairly lethargic and without the usual energy level I would like to think that I exhibit. The days would seem to drag and I found myself wishing for night-fall so that I could end the hours of awareness. I wasn't sure why I felt the way I did but I was certain that it was just a seasonal malady. So, when I began to feel physically weak, I assumed that it was part of my mental state.

I was wrong. Now that I am on the other side of what the doctors discovered was bacterial pneumonia, I feel like a new person. I'm not sure how one actually "gets" this illness -- I was told that I ingested it, something that I found truly abhorent -- but I can tell you that I am glad that it is on the wane. This condition left me without energy, without any happiness or hope, and without a joy for living. The hours of coughing and the feeling that death would be a welcome friend was so foreign to me that I still cannot believe that I felt this hopeless. Makes one realize the depth of sadness that an individual can experience. I hope that I never get to this point again.

In spite of the weeks of this ordeal, I came away with one hopeful conclusion. I am so thankful for my health. Had I not had a healthy body, I fear that I would not have been able to overcome this dibilitating disease. I know that this sounds a little self-serving in a way, but the truth of this is that had I not been strong and otherwise healthy, I might have been one of those statistics that succumbed to this disease. As one of my children said, "Jim Henson died of this very disease!" And he was not the only one. Another woman in this area died last week of complications brought on by bacterial pneumonia.

I know that I appreciate my health and the quality of life that exercise and good health bring to me. I wake up every day with an appreciation for what I can do and how I feel. I love to move and enjoy the freedom that this affords me. I love to really enjoy the day and thank God everyday that I can walk, feel, see, hear, taste, and smell the good things in the day. How fortunate I am that I do not have pain and discomfort. I appreciate these gifts and give thanks daily for them.

I appreciate my health. I especially appreciate my good health. I am glad to be feeling good again. The day is just beginning to dawn and it will be a glorious one!