Lately I have been writing back and forth with my brother Matt. He has had a drug problem for many years and is finally at a place in his life where he is getting the help he needs and confronting the demons of his past. I know with drug abuse it is a life-long battle. But I am so grateful to be able to interact with him and it be him. Not the drugs posing as him in his body. He was telling me how exercise and meditation have really been helping him. Recently I have discovered the joy of exercising too and am grateful to share that common ground with him. In my most recent letter I wrote...
"....It was good hearing from you again and I’m
glad things seem to be going relatively well. I love how you are exercising
regularly. I have to say, working out changes my whole outlook for the day. I
go in early in the morning a few times a week before the kids wake up to get my
exercise in. I can’t tell you how much better I feel when the kids do wake up
and I have to hit the ground running! I’ve already had my “me” time and so I
find that makes it easier to give the rest of my day to others.
I kind of had an epiphany at Nana’s
funeral. As I sat there looking at her little body, knowing her spirit was no
longer there, I felt such a reverence for these vessels that we have been given
to carry us through this life. Every day our heart beats, every day our blood
pumps, our brain sends signals, muscles move and flex, bones support, eyes see,
ears hear. It’s such a miracle. As I looked at the table with pictures of
Nana’s life; of her as a baby, a young girl, a young woman, a mother, a Nana…I
saw her body had been there with her through her whole journey, supporting her and
providing a home to her Spirit the whole while. It’s pretty amazing and gave me
a different outlook on our own bodies and how we appreciate them, how we treat
them, how we feel about them. It made me get more serious about fitness and
giving back to the body that gives to me every day. I am glad that after years
of abusing your body you are treating it with respect and taking care of it.
Keep up the good work!..."
I am grateful that every day I wake up my body is there to serve me and to help me serve others. I hope my girls grow up with that same knowledge. It took me a really long time to see my body as a gift rather than an imperfect "thing". I hope my girls recognize the wonder that it is and always strive to take care of the gift they have been given here in mortality. And while I know we all will age and eventually die, I'm grateful that our bodies, including our minds, during our time on this earth have the ability to heal and to renew. I am grateful that my brother has this time to reconnect with the vessel he has neglected for so long. It is my sincerest prayer that he is able to renew his life, his purpose and his body and become the man he was sent to this earth to be.