A new day!

I am not usually up this early. Not a “get up before the sun” sort of person, but today was different. I opened my curtains to a dark sea-blue sky. No clouds to distract the beauty. I sit on the end of my bed and start my physical therapy exercise routine. I started my sessions last week.

The goals set from a PT view is to strengthen my inner core muscles, while releasing some of the pressure in my back (upper, lower) and neck. I also added my own goal of working on my posture, as my shoulders bend in and I stick my neck out.

When I try to explain my stretches and goals, I always feel like an oxymoron: strengthening the muscles, yet relieving the pressure at the same time. How is that possible? They are such simple step exercises too. Repetition. And I think, “Why couldn’t I have thought of that on my own?”

As I finish my morning session, I begin to think about the day. How fresh it seems, and even though there are gray clouds in the sky, it is getting lighter outside. I think of Lamenations 3:22-24, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.'”

I thought about yesterday…how dreary, dark, cold, rainy, Monday of a day it was. My physical body was feeling the weather…it affects my hands like someone who suffers from arthritis. I had a constant pain spasm in my big toe on my right foot and I could not seem to lift my shoulders in a good posture position. It is like carrying an invisible weight. I thought of how most mornings I get up and forget to thank God for another day. Another chance just to get myself out of bed on my own, even if my body feels otherwise.

Today I have no pain yet. I can’t guarantee this day will be without it, but it is a new day. The gray clouds are now overrun by the returning beauty of yellow hues and faded blue sky. The sun finally showed its face. It is as if the morning beckons, “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.” Isaiah 60:1