The other day, I was driving in to my chiropractor to get my body re-aligned. I had been quite a lot of pain during Christmas and standing to cook and bake was quite difficult. So as soon as he was back in the office, I made an appointment and got in the same day. Afterwards, I felt relief already and knew I was going in the right direction, and would soon be feeling much better. Because I asked, he gave me a couple of things I could do at home to help in the healing process. I felt some hope for the pain to be gone.
So…celebrate everything, right?? I celebrated and went to Starbucks for a peppermint mocha. Coming out of their parking lot I had to go the opposite direction to make a turn and then u-turn around again to go home. We often have detours in our lives, don’t we? But at that stop light, I thought I should take a picture, why I didn’t know, but I did. Little did I know the treasures that I would find in that quick picture while stopped at the light. Let me explain.
Look at the picture above…I took the picture without knowing what I would find later. But the thought that came to mind was this: Just like I have to keep my body in alignment so that I don’t have to live in pain, I need to remember that my spirit needs to be in line with what God is doing or wants to do in my life. With a new year coming up, even more so. I felt He gave me that message for just that purpose; to remind me that I need to be doing inside alignment as well as my physical body. As there are stretches and walking that I can do to keep my body’s alignment from pain, there are some stretches and walking with Jesus that I need to do. I asked the Dr what I could be doing to help myself at home, and I also need to be asking the Great Physician what I need to be doing to keep my spirit in alignment with Him. What do I need to know, and where do I need to be, to do what He has for me in this New Year coming up.
The other part of this picture is the sweet heart above the starbucks cup. Now I love mochas, but I really felt it was to let me know He loved me and wanted me to see and then know these things were for me that very day. I had a hard couple of days and it was a wonderful reminder that I wasn’t alone. After all, my mini is called The Captain because He is the Captain of my ship, or mini in this case. And He was right there beside pointing and telling me to take the picture.
The third part of this story is the review mirror. We often look back over our year and see all the things that didn’t go the way we wanted them to. But what IF we looked at all the things that went RIGHT last year. We experienced so many negatives this year, that we had to keep re-adjusting ourselves every day to keep us going forward. Hardships galore! Losses of various kinds. We can glance back, even learn from it, but our review mirror is a fraction of the size of our windshield! That means we need to be looking ahead to see the big picture!! I don’t think it is about what we change in the new year, as much as it is how we grow next year.
With that in mind, I have a goal to keep my alignment for my physical body, as well as, my spiritual soul and spirit, in as perfect of an alignment as I can. However, I can only do that when I am visiting my Chiropractor monthly to stay in alignment, doing the right life style steps for me to stay in good health, and then going to God for His teaching and views on my growth and where He wants to work with me being His hands and feet. I might still have to go through some pain (as with my nose again this January) to remind myself even again next year, that I have some perspectives to continue learning. But… I will never forget that day in December at the stop light where all three lessons came into view!
Grow and learn!! THAT will change you!
Until next time…
~JoAnn
journeysofmyheart.com 