The Choice is Yours
Dr Seuss is quoted as saying “When something bad happens, you have three choices: You can either let it define you, let it destroy you, Or you can let it strengthen you.
Easier said than done, right?
I am at an age where I can view the myriad of seasons of my entire life as if I were watching it in a video. Some were grand and some were bad. These events have certainly shaped me, my beliefs, and my way of life. Some trained me, while others threatened to destroy my psyche. The trick is to learn from these events and not let it completely define you. I believe there are two sides to every season or a moment – what is obviously visible in an earthly sense and the other side (the spiritual side) of the season to the message God has for me.
Thad and I are currently slowly coming out of what is a very, very long season, of mayhem. Sharing our aging process with a friend, he stated that he felt he was “gently crumbling”. I laughed but secretly felt it was apropos We can sit here and wallow in the plethora of incidences with small and major attacks on our aging bodies. We can feel sorry for ourselves, dwelling in the mayhem of doctors’ appointments, tests, diagnosis and prognoses.
When I received a third prescription for physical therapy this year alone for three different ailments; I was almost too embarrassed to present myself for care. Surely they must be thinking that I really should just trade my body in for a new one. To which I would gladly do so if they just tell me where to do.
I lament that I am visibly shrinking in size (I now have to hike up into the seat of my car where I once slid in. I need a two step ladder to reach to top shelf of our kitchen cabinets. I definitely move slower than the whirling dervish I once was. Our world is smaller than it once was as we are not traveling as we have in the past and while I would love to get up and go; I often feel as if my energy has gone up and left without me! And that’s just a hint at my ailments. We won’t get into Thad’s.
Look, I can grumble and grouse, and moan and groan – believe me I do sometimes. But after a while, I straighten up my crown (because I am a royal daughter of God. Realistically, what will that accomplish but to make me mean as queen bee who has had its hive disturbed. So I choose to choose.
I choose to see the other side of the season or moment.
The choice is ours.
I choose to search for a ray of sunshine, the glimmer of hope. I can bask in the visits with family and friends who call to check up on us – even if it’s to find out if we are still alive and if so what crazy medical event has taken place now. Maybe it’s more frequent calls and visits from our daughter who regales us with the newest “Ryker-isms” or Aiden’s newest achievement, or her crazy busy, bustling life as a young mother, wife, and business owner. Ah, how I remember those days!
Laughter spills forth my aging, aching body as I watch our neighbor’s 8 month old dachshund goad our 5 year old dachshund into wrestling and chasing each other around the yard making us laugh till our faces hurt.
It’s the sounds of the woodpeckers calling one another announcing the start of a new day.
It’s spotting a gathering of deer in the backyard as they pass through to the lake.
The amazing world of flora and fauna that God has created for us makes me pause in wonderment. The wind caresses the leaves of the oak trees making them shimmer and glisten with the morning dew slowing my heart beat and mesmerizes me into a supernatural sense of calm. It is in those slower moments we seem to take notice of things we have and not what we have lost.
This slower pace allows for more time with God in which to pray, to seek patience, ask for His wisdom and presence to be felt. And while I don’t know what the future holds, I believe that God is in control and that His plans for us are good. And it is in this very environment of both mayhem and serenity that I surrender my fears, my doubt, my plans for what should have been as I give the day over to our Lord for what His will will be for me. For I am made strong in my weakness.
And above all, I trust in Him that where my strength ends it is there that the Father’s strength begins.
God is my refuge and strength an ever present help in trouble. (Psalm 46:1)
Is your life in mayhem? What can you do right now to help you through this season of trouble? Who can you reach out to? What practices can you institute to keep you from fraying and draining your faith? Do the next best thing right now. And know that I am praying for all of my faithful readers.
Thank you for reading my post. If you have found it encouraging please consider liking, commenting or sharing it. Feel free to even re-blog – may these words take flight!
I have additional insights I’d love to share with you found in the pages of my debut book: Surviving Medical Mayhem – Laughing When It Hurts. To order a copy or learn more go to my website at www.lorettaschoen.com
Blessings for Health & Wellness.
Good morning Loretta! Thank you for your description of suffering for Christ. Si much if what you have expressed so beautiful, we, also, have an our experiencing. People at one time described me as a whirling Turbush, and it’s in that frustration that I sometimes get overwhelmed and slip, but I am comforted by our Lord‘s love and forgiving Grace, who puts me back on the road he desires me to walk on the most comforting part of all is when God gives you the understanding and comfort of knowing why through his precious Holy Spirit, you suffer the challenges you do and would not dare ask”why me.” and his grace it is he who straightens our crown, and gives us a glimpse of success for him in all areas where we are placed in our witness for him. His scripture says our faith is Christ Jesus is evident to others even when we don’t verbalize it; I am thankful to him for His sustaining grace when I become weary and my Scoych gets up, and I lose it, it’s so comforting to know of his forgiveness and constant equipping ss I seek him to “Keep on keeping on.”
December 30, 2025 at 8:40 amGood morning Loretta! Thank you for your description of suffering for Christ. So much of what you have expressed so beautifully, we also have lived and are experiencing. People at one time described me as a whirling Derbish, and it’s in that frustration that I sometimes get overwhelmed and slip, but I am comforted by our Lord‘s love and forgiving Grace, who puts me back on the road he desires me to walk. The most comforting part of all is when God gives you the understanding and comfort of knowing “why” (through his precious Holy Spirit) , you suffer the challenges you do and would not dare ask”why me.” In his grace it is he who straightens our crown, and gives us a glimpse of success for him in all areas where we are placed in our witness for him. His scripture says our faith im Christ Jesus is evident to others even when we don’t verbalize it. I am thankful to him for His sustaining grace when I become weary and my Scotch gets up, and I lose it, it’s so comforting to know of his forgiveness and constant equipping ss I seek him to “Keep on keeping on.”
December 30, 2025 at 8:48 am