Celebration

This day, New Year’s Eve, brings two reasons for us to celebrate. There is the obvious ushering in of the New Year, but this is also Eileen’s birthday. Eileen always reads my blog posts… so Happy Birthday!! Eileen’s sister’s family heads back to Illinois this morning. So, we’ll probably spend a little time regrouping and catching up on a few tasks that we’ve let slide over the holidays. Then, we’ll probably spend a quiet evening together, just Eileen and me. There’s a small chance we may spend the late evening with a few friends.

The New Year rings in many resolutions in which we resolve to change all sorts of undesirable habits, behaviors, or life styles. It is said that it takes three weeks to change a habit, so be patient with yourself while being determined to overcome whatever may be your resolution.

I have a request to end this year. I have a good friend who goes for a biopsy on January 3^rd. Biopsies are never routine and always carry a degree of apprehension. We pray that her biopsy is negative and her fears are allayed. May her results bring cause for celebration!!

Skype

I just finished a conversation on Skype with my brother who is on vacation in North Carolina. Earlier today, Eileen’s sister’s family talked on Skype to their daughter who is visiting Germany. We talk to our daughter and our son's family on Skype regularly. For those not familiar with Skype, it is a free service which allows one to have a video/audio conversation with anyone in the world through a computer camera.

Well, whether it is Skype or another mode of communication, conversation is a very important aspect of relationships. Too often, time and distance creates disharmony in relationships as we don’t make the necessary efforts to nurture the relationship. Come to think of it, it doesn’t really take distance to precipitate communications falling apart; it just takes a lackadaisical effort towards a relationship. When we think of it, much of our happiness is found in the relationships we have with God, family, and friends. It’s good to keep those relationships in good communication!!

An Immunization

I’ve had my share of do-nothing days in my life but yesterday was the first one in a while. Eileen’s sister’s family arrived from Illinois and I spent most of the day in front of the TV watching football. I’ve missed watching a lot of football games this year but caught up on a few yesterday. I hope to watch a lot of bowl games in the coming week or so. I’m glad my brother-in-law is a big football fan.

Our granddaughter got her first immunization yesterday. She cried a bit but otherwise the rest of her doctor’s visit went well. You know, an immunization is a lot like many things in life; they are painful but necessary. If we only do what is easy or what is not painful, we will often find ourselves on the wrong side of life. I’m not just speaking physically, but especially mentally and emotionally. Many Right decisions we are to make as a parent, spouse, citizen, and Christian are emotionally challenging and painful. However, if we shy away from them we will reap some of life’s harshest repercussions. It certainly takes courage to live life in an engaged manner. It takes sustained courage to live life in a righteously engaged manner. Yet, like an immunization, if we stay focused on the benefits rather than on the pain, we’ll end up counting our blessings rather than counting the cost.

Family Time

I don’t mean to belabor my symptoms but especially with more leukemia patients reading the blog, I need to address them a bit more than I usually do. But don’t worry; I don’t dwell on them in my day-to-day living. I seek to live life and enjoy it!!

We were blessed to have our children home for Christmas. I know that won’t always be the case. In fact, they weren’t all home last year on Christmas day. But as the children get older, their own family obligations don’t always make it possible. Either way, our thoughts and prayers are always with the families who aren’t together because they have a family member(s) serving this nation. It’s one thing to be separated at Christmas because of certain circumstances but it is quite another to be separated because one is willingly serving the nation. It’s a sacrifice which keeps giving.

We’ve had a great time with our granddaughter. Prior to her going home on Monday, she was here since December 5^th. She’s two months old now and I held her until my arm was about to fall off. Actually, I did have to limit my holding time because my arm pain got to be too much. That was hard to do. I have a high pain tolerance but when it starts making me sick, I have to back down. But she will be back here on Wednesday though, and through the weekend and so I’m recuperating as fast as I can. I’ll be ready!! Indeed, we are enjoying our family time.

Navigating Cancer

Over the course of writing this blog for the past year-and-a-half, I’ve sometimes wondered if the effort is worth it. I certainly get less feedback on it than when I wrote daily and I’ve gotten several requests to write daily again. I’m still weighing that option. Anyway, I’m always thankful for the faithful readers who continue reading the blog. Otherwise, some people that I think should read the blog don’t, but then I’m always amazed to learn of new readers. Monday evening I learned that this blog was added to Navigating Cancer’s resource page. Here is a link: http://www.navigatingcancer.com/cancer/leukemia-chronic-my You’ll see my blog under “Chronic Myeloid Blogs.” I welcome new readers from this website and pray that your cancer journey goes well.

For the first time since December 5^th, our house is back to its normal crew when our son’s family left for their home on Monday. On Tuesday, the following day, we have more relatives coming in. So, Eileen and I spent the day at the store restocking groceries and running a few errands. The wind chill was in the twenties when we went out this morning. It was brutally cold. For new readers to the blog, I have a neurovascular condition in my right arm which makes me very sensitive to coolness, breezes, and temperature changes. Cold weather is especially hard on me. This adds to and complicates my Gleevec symptoms. In fact, I’m writing this post late at night after being unable to sleep because of my ills. As I was saying though, we went shopping and ran errands. Eileen wanted me to stay at home but I didn’t want her to have to do everything herself. She does so much anyway. Besides, with so much company this month, it is nice to find some time to spend just with her. And so, I’m fighting everything a bit tonight. Although I’ll likely start writing a little more often, I hope it’s not so late at night!!

End of the Calendar

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and will seek a blessed upcoming year.
We’ve had family at our house all of December and it will continue into the New Year. So, it’s been a wonderful month. This cold weather, however, is a different matter all together. It has made my arm go crazily bad, my Gleevec muscle cramps worse, and my Gleevec rash worse - - - as the temperature dips. In addition, the effort I spend fighting these off is effort I can’t spend fighting my stomach. And so, although it’s been a wonderful month, it has not been without its challenges. I need the temperature to warm up and I’m in great need of quality rest.
As a final thought for this calendar year, I want to leave you with this which came to mind last night: Those who accept failure are inviting a lifetime full of it. It seems to me that the important things in our life are worth fighting for. That is, our faith, family, and country are the center of what really makes life worth living. It’s best that we not accept failure in any of those areas. Once we begin accepting failure, it easily becomes the norm. We need to rise up and claim what is Right.

Merry Christmas!!

Our children are gathering with us like so many across this globe to celebrate Christmas together. While commercialization of Christmas continues to dominate, I hope and pray that we all center on Christmas' true meaning and significance. Thus, may you all have a blessed Christmas and Holy-day season.

This Time of Year

I should have mentioned last week that my blog was named one of the top leukemia sites by the Online X-ray Technicians Schools. I’m glad they like the blog and I am happy too that you continue to read it.
I’ve been feeling pretty well recently considering everything. My stomach continues to do better as I restrict beef and pork. I still get deep boring pains in my stomach that sometimes keep me awake at night, and I still have to take all my stomach medicine. However, overall, my stomach is improved.The cold weather is wreaking havoc on my arm. The worst of it is that it makes holding our granddaughter a challenge at times. However, I have a very high pain tolerance and my arm could all but fall off before I stop holding that child!! Actually, I try to be careful and mindful of my arm even when holding her.
Christmas time is fast approaching and I hope that we all remember that Christmas is all about Christ. It’s easy to get wrapped up in all the Christmas parties, shopping, and family gatherings. However, our nation has gotten lost in the commercialization of Christmas and it’s easy for us to get wrapped up in it too. I pray we take time to reconnect with our Creator and Savior during this very busy and often demanding time. A little humility and reassessment of our spiritual status can go a long way in reestablishing who we are and whose we are, especially during this time of year.

Twitter

I’ve been doing the Twitter thing. There are people I follow and there are people who follow what I say. With Twitter, the comments are limited to 140 characters per message. In researching people to follow, I would read a few of their comments. If it sounded good, I’d select “follow”. In researching Catholic sites, I noticed that most of them centered on the Church and/or the Pope. In researching Protestant sites, they mostly centered on Bible verses or famous Christian sayings. Despite being Catholic, and especially considering my last post (“Church at the Center”), I have to give kudos to the Protestant sites. It’s our relationship with our Lord, not the Church, which forms our faith.

If you are a Tweeter, I can be found at mgdoss.

Church at the Center

It can be said, “As the Church goes, so goes society.” I think there is reason for alarm as we look at the Church today. The first bit of evidence is what we mean by “Church.” While the "Church" technically means the “body of believers’, it has come to mean a religious institution or denominational hierarchy. Thus, when we say the Church teaches, we now mean that the hierarchy teaches, rather than a teaching of the body of believers. This transposition takes emphasis away from the people (believers) and puts it into the church organization’s hierarchy. The Church needs a hierarchy but it doesn’t need to usurp what defines the “Church”. Consistent with the way the Bible refers to it, the Church needs to remain the body of believers while the hierarchy needs to be an appendage of the Church, not the Church itself. It’s an important point because the Church as an institution has taken on an identity it is not intended to have.
In having this identity, the denominational hierarchy has become the center and power of Christianity. As a result, many people who serve the Church are serving a revered institution, rather than merely serving the body of believers. The institutional Church was never meant to be the center of the faith. Only God is to be the center. This same transposition of Church identity was seen in the times of Jesus, when the Church was such an institution of itself that it didn’t even recognize Christ: The one it sought to usher in. Today, the Church is such an institution that I sometimes wonder if it too would recognize Christ. So many people have such strong reverence and affinity for the Church while their personal faith life wanes terribly. Their love for the institutional Church is impassioned while their devotion and obedience to the ways of God are warped or neglected. The love and feelings which should be reserved and nourished in a relationship with God are transposed onto the institutional Church. The Church becomes the center while God becomes an auxiliary member.
We see the results of this in practice every day. As an overly simplistic example, as we drove 1400 miles over the Thanksgiving weekend, we were often in quite heavy traffic. A cooperative and patient spirit is necessary in such times. Yet, over and over again rudeness and self-importance was seemingly the dominant spirit. I wonder how many of these drivers are devoted Church goers. It was especially embarrassing to see the drivers with church related stickers on their cars behave as they did. We see the paradox in everyday life too. We see it in the words we use, our actions, and our inactions. Once again, devoted Church people who would do anything for the Church, routinely act in ways contrary to the teachings of Christ. We should consider that if the amount of love and devotion we expend toward the Church is not superseded by the love and devotion we expend in prayer and living God’s word, then we have wrongly transposed our love for God onto the Church. Indeed we are repeating history: The history of the Jews at the time of Christ. Going to Church does not make one a Christian; only following and obeying Christ does.
Our relationship with the Church is supposed to be the natural by-product of our relationship with God. God is not the by-product of the Church. The Church is the by-product of God. Thus, our energies need to be first and foremost on God, not the Church. Too many in the Church hierarchy have this backwards. They promote the Church with the intent of promoting God along side, but keep the Church at the center of the people’s time, talent, and treasure. Loving God and loving the Church is not the same thing. Serving the Church is not necessarily serving God either. Our relationship with God is to take stark precedence over our relationship with the hierarchical church, or we end up with a Church-centered faith, rather than a truly Christ-centered faith.
We are just coming off another set of elections. Once again, the pulpits were devoid of preaching and proclamations regarding the views of candidates. Why are the pulpits silent when it comes to political positions and the faith? Well, the Church does not want to risk losing its tax exempt status. Despite knowing that we “cannot serve both God and mammon (money)”, the Church still chooses to serve its financial status rather than God and His people. The pulpits should boldly pronounce and denounce political positions which are consistent, inconsistent, in aberration with, or are an abomination to the Word of God. With the Church at the center, its interests (financial) are served first. With God at the center, His interests would be served first.
Speaking of elections, we’ve heard a lot about hope, change, and faith as it relates to our government. After all, where else is the widow, orphan, unemployed, or disadvantaged supposed to place their hope? At one time, it was in the church- - - the body of believers. However, the Church has defaulted on this primary and stated mission so as to have the government take it over. The government has now assumed the role of the church as the primary source for hope of the needy. This has then also taken away one of the church’s primary roles for charity. The needy are cared for by monies taxed from people, not monies given as tithes and offerings: Charity. The government takes money from people and redistributes to others without the charity or accountability intended for the church. Do you see where this is going? The Christian virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity, for more and more people, sit with the government rather than with the church. While the Church is busy doing its own thing, the thing it’s charged with has been given to the government. So, what is the Church doing that is so important that it can’t take care of the mission it was charged with in the Bible? Well, it has wonderful programs of every sort which serves the Church very well, but not God’s charge and people so well. The government too has wonderful programs which serve the government very well, but not its constitutional role or people so well.
As we watch the continued transformation of a Church-centered faith, we can ask, “Are we in the last days of the Church?” Truly, God only knows. I read in the news yesterday that a Florida school has banned everything to do with Christmas, so as to not offend anyone. Meanwhile, the Church is preaching tolerance for everything from homosexuality to Islam to divorce. The Church is tolerating and making allowances to serve its own purposes, but which contradicts God’s Word. Indeed, the Church has become the center of the faith. However, we should be aware that “As the Church goes, so goes society.” Not only that, but now we are seeing that as society goes, so goes the Church.

Remember When?

It has been said, “The only thing constant in life is change.” We’ve seen many changes over the recent decades, both good and bad. Some of the bad changes are very insidious. Little by little the line between right and wrong/good and bad gets increasingly blurred. Society used to frown on what has become commonplace. Do you remember when divorce, living together, homosexuality, cursing, and heavy drinking were regarded with disdain? It’s not so scornful now, is it?
We are entering the season of Christmas. Do you remember when the Christmas season was very sacred and Christmas was very holy? Now, in large measure, the Christmas season is the “holiday season” while Christmas is largely a commercial enterprise, in which public displays of its religious roots are all too often shunned.
Sometimes change isn’t so good while the ways of old served mankind the best. I hope we all remember to celebrate this Christmas season the way it is meant to be. Maybe we can remember when, and rekindle that Spirit this year.

Self-Inflicted

Many have opined that most of our woes are self-inflicted. Raising children is very difficult but it is made much more difficult when parents act as if they are subjects of their children. I hear the stories of rude remarks, bad attitudes, and vindictive behaviors aimed at parents by children. Once the child gets his hands on the household’s reins, it’s a real battle to ever get either the reins back or the child’s behavior tamed. Then, through the years, the turmoil builds and heartache perpetuates. It’s always distressing to witness parents being on the wrong end of their relationship with their children. Parents need to parent, not the children. More and more chaos is being unwittingly self-inflicted into the household by parents who try to be something to their children other than parents first.

Update

I haven’t given a health update for a while so this post will serve to do that. My stomach is significantly better during much of the daytime since I’ve removed beef and pork from my diet. I don’t get weird and freaked out if that’s what is being served somewhere. However, otherwise, I avoid it. Although I really like beef and pork, its removal has made enough of an improvement that it is self-induced punishment to consume it. In fact, there are some days now that my stomach is fairly well behaved, until the evening dose of chemo. I still take all the stomach medicine too since my stomach is much improved, not well. However, I’m very thankful for the improvement.
As for my arm, this has been a summer of perseverance. My arm is much more sensitive than it has been in years. I gave it quite a bit of use this summer, but not as much abuse. Sometimes there's just no rhyme or reason to it. Now we enter the cooler time of the year when I have to make major arm adjustments. I’m not looking forward to the cold weather. I’m getting outside during the nice time of the day and limiting my time outside when it is cooler. However, I do have to get my cold resistance built up in preparation for winter. While the mornings have been a bit cold here, the afternoons have been beautiful.
Our family is doing well; we are blessed.

Thy will be Done

It can be said we can really tell what is at the center of our inward desires by closely watching our actions. I would take it a step farther. I would say that we can tell what is at the center of our inward desires by examining the motivations of our actions. For example, we can help a little old lady across the street. We can do it for the purpose of being helpful. Or, we can do it because it makes us feel good or appreciated. These are two different motivations; the first is to serve another while the second is to serve feelings for Self. Serving Self gets to be an ugly habit which often gives us the outward perception that we are doing good, but the inward motivation is quite self-serving. In other words, the good outward action is precipitated by self-serving motivations. I believe this is why the Bible teaches us that man believes himself to be good, but only God knows the heart. By merely looking at the actions we show to the world, we judge ourselves good. However, closer examination often reveals an undesirable underlying motivation.
We are quick to pray, “Lord, thy will be done.” All too often though, what we really want is the Lord’s will to be done when it happens to match our will!! Otherwise, we beg and plead for our own will to be done, not the Lord’s. This all begs the question: Do we live our life primarily seeking God’s will, or do we live our life according to our will - - - and hope it coincides with Gods’ will? As we look at the political correctness and tolerance for that which is ungodly in this nation, it ought to give us pause as to whose will we are pursuing. Only close self-examination clues us to what is really in our heart. Or, said another way, only close self-examination clues us to who’s Will we truly pursue.
When we stand face-to-face with God, I can imagine Him looking us up and down and simply saying, “Thy will be done.” At that instant, our eternal destiny would be decided by what is really at the heart of our will. In other words, did we live a life of “Thy will be done,” or a life of “My will be done”? For most of us, it should be a scary thought that God might determine our eternal life by saying, “Thy will be done”.

Changing the Past

I’m sure we’ve all heard people say that they wouldn’t change a thing in their past lives. The striking thing is that a lot of these people have endured horrendous pasts. Yet, because of the lessons they’ve learned or the maturity they’ve undergone, they not only wouldn’t change anything but they are thankful for their pasts. Although I understand where they are coming from, personally, I would definitely make some changes if given the opportunity. In fact, I still make decisions that I’d like to have “do-overs” with.
We often hear that we are to be thankful for all things. I think that is a misunderstanding. I believe we are to be thankful in all things, or amidst all things. Although there is grace to be found even in the midst of our mistakes, errors in judgment and behavior shouldn’t be celebrated or viewed as anything but wrong. Although we must move on from our mistakes, the real lessons are learned when we honestly and accurately differentiate right from wrong.
Before we blindly join the choruses of those who wouldn’t change anything in their pasts, we ought to be honest about the potential we’ve always had to be better people, and the potential we still hold to do so.

Lindsay Nichole

The week started with Eileen recovering from a one day flu and then me having it for a little more than a day. She got sick and then I got really sick…I was so sick that I couldn’t take my chemo. That was a first. Even so, when I get that sick, I’m reminded of those who are that sick regularly especially via chemo. In the midst of all this, I was tracking our daughter-in-law’s labor progression. At 9:56 pm on Tuesday night, our granddaughter was born!! Her name is Lindsay Nichole Doss. She was twenty inches long and seven pounds, one ounce.
On Wednesday, I headed up to see the baby. I came home the next afternoon and then headed back up Friday with Eileen. We spent the weekend up there. We held and held that baby. During the daytime, that baby wasn’t put down once!! Even at night, Eileen and I stayed up until 1am and midnight respectively holding Lindsay while everyone else went to bed. Our son and daughter-in-law can worry about Lindsay being used to being held too much while we aren’t there!!
We took a load of pictures. I posted 36 of them at our Shutterfly site. If you don’t still have the sight, email me and I will forward it to you. As I was posting the pictures, I noticed that we didn’t have many of our son and basically none of our daughter-in-law. She basically only got to hold the baby when the baby was hungry, and we couldn’t very well take a picture of that!! We’ll add more of our son and daughter-in-law next weekend.
A friend warned me that grandparents turn “silly” when it comes to their grandchildren. Considering our behavior of this past weekend, I think she is right!!

Good

C.S. Lewis wrote: “Good, as it ripens, becomes continually more different not only from evil but from other good.” In contrast, our society seems to strongly be moving into mixing good and evil, co-mixing the two. Yet, in fact, good is in opposition to evil and outgrows lesser forms of good. Our quest, should we choose it, is to seek the perfection of good and righteousness in our lives, not to co-mingle good and bad. This so-mingling of good and bad is eating at the very foundations of our faith and our nation’s founding principles. We are witnessing a lot of change in our nation. However, the change is muddling the lines between right and wrong, rather than right becoming “continually more different” from wrong.

I’m still making adjustments in my eating. I’m still not eating pork or beef as they seem to definitely create an intensified adverse acid situation in my stomach. I am getting along better with my stomach and will lay low with the beef and pork as long I can tell a positive difference. I’m also making other dietary changes to help my stomach out. They are still in the experimental stage at this point!! I’m going to make another attempt at getting more exercise too. My leg cramps and stomach pains limited me quite a bit. However, since the stomach pains aren’t as intense, I’m going to give it another try and see what my legs will tolerate these days.
We went to our youngest daughter’s marching band competition Saturday evening. The band did real well and the weather was nice. Last year we froze at the same competition even though we huddled under a quilt in the stands. We have a very busy month ahead of us and I’m trying to gear up for it. I welcome the challenge but dread the battle - - - if that makes sense!!

Adjustments

I’ve been getting some very nice comments on the book. It has worked out nice that it has been a year since you read the blog initially, and now it has been so meaningful reading it again in book form. I very much appreciate the nice and touching comments.
As you know, I’ve been making some dietary changes geared at making me feel better. So far, my adjustments have helped my stomach somewhat, especially during the daytime, prior to taking the next chemo dosage. I’ll give the adjustments more time before I definitively say they are helping. At that point, I’ll hopefully have settled on some adjustments and will report their effectiveness. One thing which seems to be making a difference, though, is meat. The less meat I eat the better my stomach seems to do. Again, that is just a tentative finding at this point. My theory is that since the chemo is such an acidic concoction, and meat digestion requires significant acid production to digest, that decreasing meat intake is decreasing the acidity of my stomach. I know it’s not rocket science but whatever makes me feel better is good enough for me!! Anyway, my stomach is not good enough for me to stop taking my stomach medicine but it is better enough for me to take notice. But again, I’ll see how the adjustments pan out with a little more time.
When I was in practice with my father, I once asked him the science behind a treatment he used on a patient. He responded by saying, “Do you see that picture hanging on the wall?” I answered, yes. He then went on to say, “If a patient comes in with a certain condition, and that picture falls off the wall and hits him, and it makes him better…the next patient with that same condition better look out for that picture!!” Although my father was a very science orientated chiropractic physician, he was ultimately more concerned about patients getting well than the science behind it. That’s kind of the way I am with these nutritional adjustments I’m making. I really don’t care about the science behind it if it makes me feel better!!

“Big Deal”

If you haven’t checked the blog since last week, I hope you’ll notice that I made a new post last Wednesday. It deals with my blood test results for which we’re very thankful.

As you know, I’ve been in tough negotiations with the publisher about the picture they left out of the book. I deem it very important because two posts are about the picture. They contend that the book is “very marketable” without the picture. However, they have inserted the picture in book. They just won’t reprint the order in which I got all of our books. So, that puts me in the dilemma of having 200 books here at the house with the picture missing in them. Friends tell me that it is no “big deal” to the reader and that it is only a “big deal” to me. So this is what I’ve decided to do: I will go ahead and start filling book orders this week, after first going through each book to insert a loose leaf picture in the appropriate page. If this remedy is unsatisfactory to you, I will refund your money and you may keep the book.

Finally, I didn’t mention in Wednesday’s post that the doctor and I talked about my dietary ways and cancer. Coincidentally, some friends have made comments to me about dietary changes they made to help them in their battles. Although I have a rather extensive background in nutrition, I’ve been researching the latest and greatest. As always, what one expert attests to, another one debunks. So, I’ll be making some changes which will hopefully give me a stronger internal chemistry from which to battle. There is so much conflicting data out there that I’m going to latch on to what makes sense to me and just go with it. At this point, I surmise that having some strategy is better than none at all. Of all the scenarios, this one has stuck with me the most: If your fish are sick from swimming in unclean water, what do you do? Do you keep pumping medicines into the fish to keep it healthy, or do you clean the water? I’m going to try to clean my internal water up a bit and see if that helps me be stronger and feel better.

Cytogenetic

I had some errands to run downtown this afternoon. I finished them early and therefore also arrived quite early for my appointment with Dr. Tan. They said they’d try to work me in. They did and I was home before my scheduled appointment time.
Dr. Tan said that I have achieved “cytogenetic remission.” That means that my test revealed no active cancer cells!! That’s the good news, and very good news it is!! However, the genetic ally messed up cells which produce the cancer cells are still alive and well, as they apparently always will be. In practical terms, cytogenetic remission means that Gleevec has successfully killed off the cancer cells to the point that it can kill them off as fast as they are produced. Dr. Tan said the prognosis is better for those who reach cytogenetic remission within a year instead of the year-and-a-half it took me. Nevertheless, life expectancy for those who reach cytogenetic remission is twice that of those who don’t. Current life expectancy for those people is “six to seven years and getting better.”
The plan is for me to continue taking Gleevec until it doesn’t work any longer. I will get my blood checked every six months or so. Dr. Tan said that when Gleevec stops working he will switch me to one of two other new leukemic drugs. In the meantime, I’m to continue to also take the ancillary drugs which help me with my stomach. Although Dr. Tan wanted me off of them at one time, he’d rather me stay on them and be able to tolerate Gleevec, than him have to switch me to the new drugs this early in the battle.
Oh yes, my anemia is about the same and my spleen continues to shrink. Without a CT scan to confirm it, Dr. Tan thinks my spleen has gone back down to its normal size.
And so, this is great news. Of course I wish it was even better, but I have no complaints. We thank you for your prayers and many kindnesses.

Blood Test

I hope to have things figured out on the status of the books by the time I write next week. If not, certainly by the next week it should be settled. The publishing company is a big company which moves even slower than I do!!
I have an appointment with Dr. Tan on Wednesday. After my blood test a couple of weeks ago, the nurse called to inquire how I had been feeling. I answered, “Not too well, why?” She said she was just calling to reschedule me to a later date if I felt well enough. Quite relieved, I said that was fine and rescheduled until this Wednesday. I’ll report next Monday on my results.

Emotional Decisions

This week I’m reminded of the many personal tragedies out there. It seems that we bring so much trouble onto ourselves by our poor choices. Obviously, some bad choices bring worse consequences than others. But life brings enough tragedy on its own that we don’t need to add to it. We especially need to be careful about our emotional decisions: The number one influence of bad decisions. Making important decisions when we are sad, upset, under pressure, “in love,” or exuberant can have devastating and life-long consequences. It is far better to govern our lives in a manner which is true to Godly principles and wisdom.

“Not Soft”

The books are published and in my hands. However, there is a glitch. An important picture to a couple of blog posts was omitted from the printing process. The publisher says that it is because I didn’t include an author’s release for the picture. I countered that I informed them in the initial submittal that the picture was a “public domain” picture and, therefore, a release was not included. They continued to contend that a release form for the picture had to have been submitted anyway, as the instructions require. So, we are at a standstill until Friday. On Friday, they relented to say that they would put the picture in the book. Now, my quest for this next week is to get them to reprint the misprints. My chances for success aren’t real high. By the grace of God though, we’ll see.
I felt better on Sunday than I have in quite a while. I’m not sure why and only care why so that I can hopefully reproduce days like this. It’s been a rough several weeks but I’m thankful for the way I feel today (Sunday night).
I heard a sermon Sunday making the case that “God is not soft.” Wow, have we come a long way in redefining who God is and what His commands are when we have to preach that “God is not Soft.” We ought to think about that!!

Sixth Pillar

Since it has been a little while, I’ll use this post to update my health status. I’ve been doing pretty well although I am not nearly as strong as I was a year ago. Finding energy is much more of a battle and the little I find is not so long lasting. I have periods of time when I don’t sleep well at all, but then I’ll have periods of time when I seemingly sleep my life away. I’m staying fairly active but it is a whole lot bigger challenge than it ever has been. My arm is ridiculously troublesome which seems to put all my systems on edge. My stomach pain and leg cramps continue to be major contenders. All in all though, I feel VERY blessed and feel that one foot is still going in front of the other just fine. Some days I’m rather strong while other days, well, not so much.
In another direction…Last year I wrote about the Five Pillars of Spiritual Growth. I have a sixth one to add. Here’s Pillar Six: Say five nice things to your spouse (or someone) each and every day. They can be in the form of affirmations, unprompted thank you’s, or other gestures of appreciation. This Pillar will do a great work in you and in your spouse (or others). I mentioned this pillar to a guy and he thought of an affirmation right away. He said a husband could tell his wife, “You didn’t burn my bacon near as bad this time!” Well, that’s not what I’m talking about, but I think you get it!!

Numbers Game

I can’t tell you how many discussions I’ve had with people who advocate the various techniques churches use to bring people into the doors. From softball and soccer to pumpkin sales and musical bands, we’ve discussed the merits of various enticements to get people in the church door. There is such a focus on filling the pews and the collection plate. The strategies to accomplish both seem endless. But, I keep asking the question. “Okay, you’ve got them in the door. When does the discipling of the people begin?” I’m not talking about the soft and cushy “I’m okay; you’re okay” theologies. I’m talking about the teachings of what used to be known as the tenants of the faith: The rights and wrongs along with the fundamentals of the faith. It seems we’re afraid to teach the tenants of the faith because we’re afraid of offending people and thus decreasing our Sunday attendance. Once again, we see that attendance numbers are more important than what the church attendees are actually taught and believe. This creates a couple of main problems. Not only does it create and empower “Christians” who don’t follow the Christian principles, but it also creates vapid church services which are geared toward retention and recruitment rather than purifying people’s souls. Further, it leaves those who seek a congregation with which to truly worship feeling like they are attending a church production rather than a worship service in which to be discipled in the faith.
Seeking to always be balanced and fair as a primary motivation is not good. Often times what is Right is neither balanced nor fair. It’s just right. Our quest to be politically correct in our teachings and have high church numbers despite what is taught may seem balanced and fair…but it isn’t Right.

Shame

I was chatting with a friend who raised a very poignant question. She asked, “Where is the shame?” As we look at television advertisements, TV shows, and movies, her question bears due consideration: Indeed, where is the shame? Too, as we look at our politics, we should wonder, “Where is the shame?” When we consider our sliding moral values we should consider, “Where is the shame?” As I wrote last week, it seems that our focus is far enough away from what is right, moral, and value-based that it takes a lot to elicit our shame. We should consider that a people who have a diminished sense of shame are a people who are on a path away from the moral fiber which founded this country. When we consider where this country’s morals have gone, we should feel shame.

I want to thank everyone for your response to the book. Although I’m offering the books at author cost, a friend ordered from the publisher the moment he got the publisher’s notice. He wanted to be the first to order a book. He told me that I need to challenge people to buy multiple copies. Well, he has some more buying to do if he wants to enter such a challenge. A friend has ordered ten copies!! Whether it’s one copy or ten, we deeply appreciate your interest in perpetuating the message of the book. We also deeply appreciate your support.

Book Release

The official release date for my book is October 9, 2010!!

I'd like to be able to give all of you a free copy of the book, but that won't be possible with the cost of the book. The retail price is $34.95 for the 344 page book while my price (author's price) with shipping is $25.00 ($24.96) per copy. As you can deduce, the cost would get into the hundreds of dollars if I gave very many away. However, you can order your books through me at my cost of $25.00 per copy. Of course, you'll need to add a few more dollars if you want me to ship them somewhere else. The publisher is offering a pre-release discount for the public at it's website for 20% off ($27.95) plus shipping ($3.99) with "Discount20" code. Again though, my blog readers can order it through me for $25.00 instead of the $31.94.

I sought to have this book published in response to many of your suggestions. It's my sincere hope that the message it contains will be a blessing to everyone who reads it. Some people have told me that they will be giving the book as Christmas gifts. I hope you will consider doing the same. Of course you can order them all through me at my cost ($25.00). If every book that sells, gets sold at my cost, but gets the book's message out, I'd be well pleased.

Thank you all for your support. I'll probably post this blog post again when the book is actually released.

Centered World

If we were asked what are lives revolve around, most would either say their jobs or families. Some might say their hobbies. Would that be your answer too? Well if it is your answer, you’ve identified what I believe is at the center of our nation’s problem. Rather than being a people who centers everything on our Judeo-Christian values, we have become centered on other matters. Thus our values and principles have become secondary. Although it sounds reasonable to say our lives revolve around our families and jobs, values and principles are supposed to lead everything in our lives; values are not supposed to follow behind. If values are secondary, then we lose our moral center and our morals become dependent upon what we subjectively need or want for our families and jobs. Therefore, our values and morals become something society manipulates so as to live the life it wants, rather than what changes our lives to fit righteousness. Does that make sense? In other words, when our lives are centered on something other than moral value, moral value is reduced into an afterthought. When political correctness, tolerance, family decisions, and career choices are at the center of a society, that society will lose its moral compass. Our moral values should be at the center of our lives, with all else gathering in around it.
As for me, I'm in a phase of sleeping very well. In fact, most nights I am sleeping 10-12 hours with and without naps. Although I've never slept that much in my life, it sure beats the few hours of sleep per night I was getting!!

Book Update

This is the cover of the book. I'll be getting an advanced copy of the book soon but I don't know when it will go to full press. It is 344 pages and its size is 6 x 9. I saw at the publisher's website that it will sell for $34.95. It seems like a lot but I know from looking into self-publishing that publishing is very expensive. If you've purchased books lately, you know what I mean. Anyway, it's our prayer that the book will be a blessing to everyone who reads it.

Eileen Report

Eileen saw her surgeon today, Dr. Suzanne Bush. Dr. Bush was exceedingly happy with how well Eileen has healed. In fact, even though Dr. Bush ackowledged that Eileen likes to work in the yard, she put NO restrictions on Eileen. None!! She told Eileen to "go live life." We are very pleased and thankful. Again, thank you for your many prayers and well wishes.

Welcome Back

Welcome back!! This has been a very busy week but also a better one. Of all the weeks in which I should have paid a steep physical price for what I have done, this is the one. However, I’ve done pretty well. The week began with my younger son and I figuring out and digging through the yard as we sought which sprinkler lines and wires went where in our attempt to get them working again, after the pool work left some of them like a bowl of spaghetti. Really though, I should say that I helped him because he did most of the work. We worked in the mornings and evenings because the heat index was over a hundred. I’m not supposed to be out in the sun much. After a couple of days we got it all done.
Then my book cover and text review came in. I had forty-eight hours to review it all and get it back to them. I was talking to our older daughter and told her that I may have to rely on my previous edit because I couldn't get through it all in that time, especially since I had a trip to Mississippi to make. She said she could do it, and she did. She did a great job of editing the text and finding my typos, etc. The book cover looks great.
On Friday, our son and a friend laid sod where the pool used to be. I helped but again they did most of the work. We laid one more pallet of sod on Saturday morning.
If you’ll remember, I’ve had a terrible time sleeping. Between my arm and the Gleevec side-effects, I’ve had trouble getting to sleep before 3am, even if I didn’t take a nap in the day. For an arm which often gets fiercely upset merely doing dishes or handling laundry, I expected the worse from my arm. However, it has been doing well enough and I’ve been sleeping pretty well. I’m also taking a high dose of melatonin. Dr. Tan had recommended it before and it helped. I guess when I was sleeping well that I forgot all about it. Eileen has also been able to work on my legs some. Cramping legs make it hard to sleep too. So, the melatonin and leg massages have helped my sleep greatly.
Eileen continues to get stronger and has her final doctor’s appointment on Wednesday. In some ways, it’s hard to believe that it has been six weeks since her surgery. We are thankful for her progress and all your prayers.
Our youngest daughter got her driver’s license. She’s in that phase where she volunteers to run any errand we might think of. We’ll see how long that lasts!!
Finally, and totally on a different track…I notice how critical people are when we learn that the CEO of a major company makes 30 million dollars a year. I’m not sure people need to make that much but that’s not my point. It was announced a couple of weeks ago that “Judge Judy” signed a new 45 million dollar a year contract. I wonder where the outcry is. I further wonder where the outcry is when movie stars, singers, and athletes make so much more than people running our major companies. I hope in this environment of attacking businesses and business leaders that we remember that they are the ones who generate our jobs. We are seeing in our economy what happens when they aren't expanding, growing, and innovating: They don’t’ hire.
I’ll talk to you next Monday.

On The Same Road

I’ve finally decided to change my blog postings to once a week. For the time being, I will post on Monday mornings. Of course if something stirs me in between times I’ll write. But for the most part the blog post will be on Mondays. So, please check back each week for updates and thoughts.
As we saw yesterday, when two people are communicating from two different motives or desired outcomes, we tend to generically label that as miscommunication. Said another way, when each person in the relationship seeks differing results, we are likely to encounter difficult communication. It’s as if one person is talking about traveling east while the other is talking about traveling west. It’s hard to get on the same road.
It’s important in our relationships that we seek a common outcome of our communications. How do we do that when two different people hold two different perspectives or are motivated by two different desired outcomes? As long as the two people seek what their own “Self” wants, communication will be very difficult. Instead, the two must seek the outcome which is “Right.” Only when both seek to go either east or west will we get on the same road. Only when we both seek what is right in our relationships, rather than seek our personal desires, will we get on the same road. Only when we both value “Right” over “Self” will we get on the same road.
Miscommunication is theoretically easy to solve, yet, very difficult in reality. Why? Proper communication requires a lowered sense of self, pride, and ego. It requires us to seek “right” above our personal motives, objectives, and rewards. It requires seeking “Right” above seeking to win our point of view or perspective. It’s only easy to travel on the same road when both want the same thing: That which is “Right.”
Finally, remember, the blog will now post on Mondays.

Miscommunication

Miscommunication is a common malady of relationships. But what is at the heart of miscommunication? Usually one person is operating from a perspective of what he wants and the other person is operating from a perspective of what she wants. As a consequence, the two approach viewpoints from two very different personal perspectives. It gets worse when one of the perspectives is not merely what one wants, but what one wants from the other!! Did you catch that? It’s bad enough when we are operating from a perspective of what we want; it’s worse when we are operating from a perspective of what we want from another. At this point, we’re blatantly seeking to get our own way and get the other person to behave in a manner that gets us what we want too. When two people are operating from two entirely different motivations, is it any mystery as to why there is miscommunication?!

Clock of Life

Well, the liner of our swimming pool was old and getting holes in it. It was time to replace it. However, we’ve considered for quite a while to just fill the pool in. We don’t use it all that much anymore as compared to the tending it requires. I especially use the pool sparingly as the water has to be warm for my arm and even then I don’t swim much because of swimming’s impact on my arm. Eileen is only moderately comfortable in the water and our daughter uses it less and less too. Further, if I’m not feeling well, the pool still has to be tended to. If I didn’t tend to it, it would put more upon Eileen to do, especially in the years to come. So, we decided to fill it in rather than replace the liner. The pool was nice while we had it but especially since personal energy is a commodity these days, we’d rather expend our energies on items other than on pool maintenance.
Life is full of choices and changes; cancer has precipitated even more of them than we were ready to make. Even without that, various stages of life also present us with choices and changes. I think we would have made the same pool choice even if cancer wasn’t complicating the picture. It was just time. There are choices and changes that we all have to make as the clock of life ticks forward.

In Pursuit

So, our baseball playing son was to be home yesterday afternoon but there was a glitch in the plans. With airline ticket in hand, a roster problem caused the Phillies to ask our son for a favor. They asked him to stay on for a few more days to help them out. He obliged. The Phillies were thankful and told him that if he ever needs a personal recommendation that they would be glad to provide it. Our son’s life-long goal of playing professional baseball is coming to an end, and although he has to change his career goals, we are thankful that he is keeping a balanced head through the process.
As parents, we all hope that our children’s dreams can be fulfilled. Yet, we often lose sight of some of the most important blessings in life when we get too focused on their finish line. The real blessing in all of our lives is found in the pursuit of our goals, not in the goals themselves. It’s in the pursuit that we learn the lessons of perseverance, character, endurance, and encouragement. It’s where we learn to mature in our interactions with people amidst our challenges. However, if we are so focused on the finish line, which is retirement for some, then we often miss the greatest blessings of life along the way. Whether it’s the goals of our children or our own goals, it’s good to remember that life is lived between the lines: The start line and the finish line. Whether we meet our goals or not, the person we become in the pursuit is what really matters, much more so than the goal itself.

With Honor

So here is the deal. Except for the afternoon of my wonder nap, this has been a rough week. Only twice have I been to sleep before 3am. The upside is that it gives me plenty of time to think about things which I’m going to blog about in these next several posts!! But I want to be clear about one thing. I well know of the plight of people taking the same Gleevec dosage but they have terrible reactions. Mine are minimal in comparison. Although some patients escape the rapture of Gleevec, most do not. Furthermore, there are much harsher chemo drugs out there which put people through living hell. Thank God, that’s not me.
I have two main audiences for this blog. First, I have those who like the life lessons and life issue posts. Secondly, there are those who just want to know how I’m doing. I try to keep a mix of both, although formulated to keep the symptom reports to a minimum. I don’t like to dwell on the symptoms and I don’t like others to view me as a bag of symptoms either. Over all, I’m doing well…in comparison. Even the sleepless nights are nothing new and have been a factor of my arm for years. It’s just that the Gleevec adds substantially to the drama. If I could get rid of either the arm symptoms or Gleevec symptoms, I’d get rid of the arm problems. I can “stomach” the Gleevec and push on. The arm is almost always the genesis of my misery. So, weep not for me; I’m doing just fine like I have for years.
In other news, our baseball playing son is coming home a few days early. I mentioned the other day that he is retiring from the Phillies. Since he gave them notice, he was relegated to help in the bullpen but wouldn’t be playing. However, in the 16th inning (yes, 16th inning) of a game they needed him. He went in and made some “game saving” (according to the announcer) plays and bunted the winning run to third. The point is, he could have given a half-hearted attempt since he would be leaving in a week or so. But he gave it his all. Yesterday the manager called him in to talk to him. He said that usually when someone retires he is on his own to get home. However, since he’s a "good guy" etc, they are going to pay for his plane trip home, luggage, and let him go home early but pay him up to his retirement day. Our son is very appreciative. As I told him the other day, we can’t always control what happens to us but we can always react in a way in which we hold our head high and act with honor.

Grin and Bear It

I was very thankful for feeling as well as I did yesterday afternoon for as long as did. But I suppose good things come to an end sometimes. As my stomach and arm steadily misbehaved, the rest of my symptoms made an appearance too. They just couldn’t leave well enough alone!! So, I finally got to sleep at about 3:30 or 4am early Tuesday morning. I was on the go all day Tuesday and didn’t get a nap. I hope that my weariness this evening can out-duel my stomach and arm tonight even though I just took another dose of Gleevec. If I didn’t know of so many other cases in which they’d gladly trade me stations in life, I might complain and whine a little. But for as long as I can draw a breath I hope to stay on the positive side of the curve.
In tomorrow’s blog I want to begin a conversation about some items on my mind. I'll talk to you then.

Wonder Nap

Monday started out as most days do. I got myself out of bed, went to a meeting, ran a few errands, and then back home. By about noon I was feeling very rough. I ate lunch and then took a nap. I slept for about three hours only awaking to answer the telephone several times. However, when I finally got up I felt like a new man. I haven’t felt that good in a very long while and it was good timing too. This was our youngest daughter’s sixteenth birthday and we had plans. I was able to truly enjoy our outing without something (pain) competing very hard for my attention. It was a great breath of fresh air and I am very thankful. The good feeling lasted until the evening when I had to take my Gleevec. Soon afterwards my stomach began its wayward behavior and I did some typing which generally awakens my arm. Still though, it wasn’t too bad and I was nearly euphoric over how well I felt, regardless of how long it lasted.
I am constantly reminded of how blessed I am. I’m so thankful to God for my wonder nap.

What I’ve Learned

In a phone conversation with our younger son last night, he confirmed his decision to retire from professional baseball and return back to school. He told the Phillies that his retirement will be effective July 31st.
We knew he had been thinking about this decision for quite a while as he made application to University of West Florida and transferred his credits from University of South Alabama. He’s had a great baseball career. Now he’ll pursue a different career.
In other news, a friend from North Carolina emailed me yesterday and asked what I had learned through my cancer journey thus far. The rest of this blog will be the crux of what I wrote back to her:
What have I learned? Dispersed through my last week or so of blog posts I’ve written about attitude and perspective. That is perhaps what I’ve learned the most in this journey. Regardless of what happens to the physical body, I still have sway over my attitude. I’ve also learned that regardless of how long the battle might be, my faithfulness and diligence must persevere. As I wrote someone the other day, “Just because I have cancer doesn’t mean that I can be a jerk to Eileen or anyone else.” Having cancer, another malady, or any other hardship is not an excuse to let our animalistic instincts and tendencies roam. That is, to let ourselves be governed by our natural tendencies toward bitterness, envy, inconsiderateness, or other Self-serving attitudes. Instead, we have to choose to live life on a higher (spiritual) plane. That is, count our blessings, be thankful always, and find the good in everything. Finally, I’ve learned more clearly that death is not a matter of “if” but a matter of “when.” Therefore, the “when” carries less sting and makes it more essential that I care about “how” I die. I hope to be strong enough to die living what I profess and teach.

Judgmental

There was a knock at the door yesterday evening. I answered the door and spent the next forty-five minutes trying to reeducate a person who was determined that I am going to hell solely because I am Catholic. Who knows, maybe he has some inside information but it’s unfortunate that knowing nothing about me, other than my denomination, he determined that I’m going to hell. I enjoyed the interaction although I totally frustrated him. He wanted to play gottcha but he just got himself all tangled up. I suggested that he stop judging people, especially according to their denomination without knowing anything about their relationship with God. Hopefully he left being a little less judgmental than when he came, although I doubt this fella comes back to our house.

Health Update

Eileen continues to do better although she has times when she doesn’t feel as well. She is definitely much stronger and it takes more for her to decide to sit back and take it easy. Eileen is quite careful to avoid the movements which are forbidden for her but she certainly fully utilizes the maneuvers she is allowed. Never too far is away is our youngest daughter who cheerfully helps in every way she can.
As for my status, I’m not really sure what to report other than that my symptoms are very erratic and unpredictable. That is probably the hardest thing in dealing with the pain. It’s hard to stay on top of it when the pain exacerbates when I’ve done little and is quite tolerable when I’ve been more active. For example, for the past couple of weeks, even brushing my teeth with my right hand for a moment sets my right arm off big time. Yet, on Monday I worked in the yard doing things which normally keep me from sleeping for a few days... but my arm had a rather tame response. It makes it hard to know what to mentally prepare for. I'm now on an additional prescription pain killer. I sure don't like more chemical concoctions going in me but I needed to do something.
My stomach is misbehaving more than it has in several months. I’m not sure what is going on there. However, my leg cramps and bone pain are mysteriously somewhat better. I don’t need to know why; I’m just thankful for the decreased pain and aggravation, especially when trying to sleep. My fatigue is fairly pronounced although I think some of it is from being laid back too long. We were gone for a week and then I did little for the following two weeks while Eileen was recovering. Now that I’m going again, I have to regain my stamina. Overall, we’re doing well.

Less Traveled

I hope that these last several blog posts remind us that we can’t merely show up for life. It’s incumbent upon us to live life on a plane higher than we naturally enter the world with. Thus we have to choose to seek Right rather than allow our own natural desires and natural tendencies to rule our lives. Regardless of how tired, frustrated, or disappointed we may be, we must choose to take the high road in our attitude and character. In a certain context, that is what the Bible is all about: Taking the spiritual high road rather than the natural road. Indeed, it’s the narrower road and the one less traveled.

When It’s Easy

I ended yesterday’s post by saying, “We have a great attitude when things are going good and have a bad one when things aren’t going our way. But what is that? Even the worst among us do that.” I’m sure many of you saw its inherent reference to, “If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?”
Yet, isn’t that what has always been wrong with those who think of themselves as being good? We are good when there is an audience, when it is to our advantage, or when things are going great. That’s when we find it easy to live on the spiritual plane and be “spiritual” people. But let a bad day happen; let someone wrong us; let our spouse or kids not live up to our expectations, and we resort back to our animalistic ways. In other words, when things don’t go our way, we resort back to our default setting of reacting according to our natural instincts and ingrained habit patterns. When things get tough, we act just like the worst among us, “tax collectors” and “pagans.”
To continuously live on a spiritual plane requires character and discipline. Yet, those traits are in direct opposition to self-esteem. Human beings naturally seek to boost self-esteem through self-gratification and self-image, which quashes character and discipline. Then our true nature and spirituality is revealed.
Regardless of how spiritual or saved we may judge ourselves to be, we are mere spiritual fakes and frauds if our great attitudes and spiritual perspectives are only present when life is going good. After all, being good when it’s easy is absolutely no different from how the worst among us lives his life.

Choice

Within us, there is the battle between living in the animalistic realm or in the spiritual realm. In the animal realm we live according to our instincts and what seems natural to us. The very same thing our pets do. In the spiritual world we seek to do what is Right regardless of what our natural instinct, personal habits, or upbringing might predicate us to do. For example, our animalistic tendencies desire for us to seek revenge for a wrong done against us, while in the spiritual realm we extend forgiveness. Likewise, the animalistic realm desires for us to strike out at an offender, while the spiritual realm may have us turn the other cheek. The animalistic realm may have us seek cover when things aren’t going well; the spiritual realm has us stand for right or confront a wrong.
We can never maintain a healthy attitude and a spiritual perspective as long as we hold antipathy towards another. The two are incompatible. Thus, we have to make a choice: We choose to either hold onto the pains and resentments we have towards others, or we can choose to have healthy attitudes found only in the spiritual realm…but we can’t have both. Oh sure, we can shift between the two worlds depending on the circumstances. We have a great attitude when things are going good and have a bad one when things aren’t going our way. But what is that? Even the worst among us do that.

Better Perspective

Let’s say that we agree that our moment-by-moment choices of attitude and perspective of life are what govern our general demeanor, our personality, and our spiritual outlook. Let’s suppose farther that our attitude needs improvement…and whose doesn’t?! Well, how do we improve our attitude? One of the first things we can do is to realize that our plight isn’t near as bad as it could be. If you are able to read this blog, there are millions of people who would trade places with you. Yet, they have great attitudes. Regardless of how bad your marriage might be, there are those who’ve had it much worse but made it work. No matter how sick you may be, there are people who are sicker or the circumstances around their sickness are worse. Yet, they persevered with a smile on their face. The point is, we need to stop thinking we have it so bad.
Secondly, as the Good Book says, we need to focus on the good things, righteous things, and true things. That’s easy to do this when things are going well. But the true test of our character is our ability to do it when things aren’t going so well or we don’t feel so well. We have to find the silver lining in every storm. We have to be so accustomed to finding a good attitude and perspective in everything that it becomes a part of our nature.
Thirdly, know that there is hope. If we are willing to put forth the concerted effort it takes, we can move the mountains in our lives. Notice I didn’t say we have to put forth the effort we are willing to. No, instead, we have to put forth the effort that it takes.
We can blame various circumstances and situations for our current attitude and perspective. However, ultimately, our current attitude is the one which we chose.