Now about the story, a while back I was having a "conversation" with my wife. She informed me that I always look at the negative. I see a half glass of water as being half empty and not half full. The more I thought about this, the more I realized it was true. I do seem to dwell on the negative instead of the positive.
Well,that day the weather was terrible. It was early spring and it was windy and raining most of the day. I decided to brave the weather and go out for a run. The snow had been gone for quite some time so I didn't bother with gloves or a hat. "How cold could it be," I thought to myself. I was about to find out.
Out the door and into the wind. "Man, what am I doing!" There are three things I don't like about running and they are cold, wind, and rain. Then it happened, I got to thinking about the coversation I had earlier with my wife. "I am not going to dwell on any negative thoughts today, I will only look at all the positive aspects of a spring run." So with my new mind set, I began to place one foot in front of the other and move down the road.
"Maybe I should have grabed a hat and gloves, and these cotton sweats are soaking up a lot of water, but that is good." Lets see, how can this be positive, the added weight would help me build muscles. That's it! Yeah, great for weight training. I trudge along silently hoping it would quit raining but it only got worse. The wind was driving the rain into my face and it was raining harder. "More resistence training," I thought as I continued on.
My hands and ears were numb now but at least they didn't feel cold! "Hey, I am getting good at this positive thing. A few more miles and I will have it down." I turn of the road and head down one of my trails. This could have been a good thing but there is still snow back in the shade of the trees and my already wet feet are cooling off fast in the slush and snow. Ahh! More resistence training. I will be strong at the spring races.
I near the part of the coarse where I turn and follow a creek but what is that noise? Once around the corner I see a swollen river instead of a creek. "Oh well, I can't get much wetter now." I try to run along the bank but it is too steep and I slip into deeper and deeper water. Then it happens "sploosh" I am suddenly being swept down streem in a raging torent of water. My first thought was, "why me" but then I remembered, stay positive. Do you know how hard it is to try to think of something positive about a brisk ride over the rocks in freezing water? "I know, I think as I slowly slip into unconciencness,"this is good for my cardiorespiratory system." Yes sir, the lack of oxygen was doing something alright. "Hey, swiming is a grate cross-training activity." But try as I might, I couldn't swim in all that swirling water.
Three months later, I woke up in the hospital hooked up to all the life support and huge bandages on both my hands. The doctor steps in and gives me the bad, ahh, err, good news. "You have lost all but one of your fingers from frostbite and you will probably never walk again." "Thats great doc, thanks." I say without so much as a lup in my throat.
"Thats great? I just told you that you will never walk and you say thats great?" "Sure doc," I respond,"you said you saved one of my fingers so I can at least let people know what I think of the Seahawks."
Later that day as I began to thaw out my body and brain in the shower, I thought about looking at the bright side of things and wondered if a person could go too far. Temptation comes in different forms. Some people just seem to always be in good cheer and other have a real struggle just trying to see the bright side. I know that I can leave this up to the Lord also, that when the negative things spring out at me, I can turn to him in prayer. He will never tempt me beyond what I can endure and he will reward those who persever.
So if you see me at a fun run in the near future, just give me the "Seahawks are number one" signal and I will know that the lord is working in your life also.
