Quality Life with Others in Mind

My quality of life, and that of my loved ones, has been on my heart for a little while now. I think it's because motherhood has caused me to look at how one person's physical, mental, or spiritual condition has high potential in affecting the other members of that person's household.

THE PRACTICAL STILL TEACHES

A very practical example of this is when my husband once came home from work with cold symptoms. It wasn't long before my throat was hurting. I started sneezing, and Asa's (our elder son who was our only child at the time) and my noses were running. On top of this, I was the last one of us three to completely get over the cold (because usually before a cold leaves me, my ears clog for a few days and have to unclog). So at some point during the course of all of this, I thought that maybe if my husband had been more proactive in protecting his own body from the cold, he wouldn't have brought it home, and Asa and I wouldn't have caught it (I do recall that during the cold months, I often find myself lovingly reminding hubby that a coat and hat would kinda' sorta' almost a little bit be helpful to his health).

Within the same vein regarding health and quality of life, beyond illnesses as minor as the common cold, are physical conditions that are quite major and all too common due to the way we choose to treat our bodies, or better yet, our whole selves. As I age, I take note of how more than one life is affected by a health setback within a family. Now, I do understand the need to come to terms with caring for each other as we age naturally. I also understand caring for those affected by illnesses that the ill did not, so-to-speak, bring upon themselves through purposefully making unhealthy choices. However, when we are careless with ourselves as it pertains to eating habits, drug habits, mental habits, sexual appetite, and whatever else, we put our health at risk and set others (namely those closely connected to us) up to have to deal with the consequences of our poor choices.

DO I HAVE THE RIGHT?

I have half joked with my husband and extended family members, informing them that I would be a bit perturbed with them if they were to leave life on this side of heaven due to illness or depleted quality of life brought on and perpetuated by poor life decisions. And they have the right to have the same sentiment when it comes to me and the life choices I make. Simply because I love them so dearly, I don't want them to slight themselves of a quality life; I want them to live according to God's purpose, not dishonoring Him or themselves with respect to the time that they have to serve this purpose.

I am confident that we can trust Him with our holistic health, but I am humbled in my humanity and the capability that He has given me to make wise choices concerning my health. And so, in this piece are no facts or figures ... just heartfelt concern.

Let's do our best to abandon ourselves, our desires, our wants, and our proclivities in exchange for asking God about what He wants for us in our ways of thinking, doing, and just ... being.

King David says it best in Psalm 139:23 & 24 when he writes:

Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties;

And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.

*I wrote this piece in 2014, but it still carries a theme that deserves perpetuating.Thus, I modified it, making it a tad more current.

#quality #life #others