Unconventional Thinking

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Sometimes I feel that I have far too much time on my hands. For what, you ask? Philosophical thinking, self reflection, and generally useless poderings. I was thinking a few days ago about my life. Not in a big picture way, but rather in an "accident that occured years ago" way. My thinking centered on the subject of "purpose". I sometimes feel that this accident of mine was more of a directed blessing, as opposed to a tragic event. 

To explain...there are some positive things that would not have occured without the accident. One of them involves heart health. I lost fifty pounds as a result of the accident's aftermath. I have a lot of heart related issues in my family such as high blood pressure, high colesteral and triglycerides levels, mini strokes, etc. I feel that I would be in fairly bad shape with my heart at this stage in life if I had not lost the weight and started to monitor my heart health years ago after the accident. My blood tests all reveal good heart related numbers, all of the tests that I take annually that include CT scans and EKG's yield good results, and my cardiologist always tells me that I'm in great shape and that I'm a great patient. It is possible that I have avoided some serious heart problems as a result of the way that things have been changed in my life between eating and exercise because of the accident injuries.

Another thing involves my finances. I honestly never considered the issue of aging before the accident. I lived as though the need for retirement savings didn't matter. We would buy things and go places with reckless disregard as though we would always be able to work and our salaries would always provide for our monthly needs. I would allow credit card balances to ride for several months without much thought to the possibility that we would ever be in a position to have trouble paying the balance within time. However, the accident woke me up a bit concerning my own mortality. Since then, we have gotten health insurance and started several savings accounts. We pay credit card balances off every month and never pay interest fees. If the money is not available in our checking account, then there aren't any "must have, must do" things in life. We spend our money more judiciously and we have a very stable financial standing as a result. 

So, huge hassles and pains related to my motorcycle accident? You betcha! Unable to see the blessings beyond the curse? No way! The Bible tells us, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose". I have often told folks in church that God did not promise a perfectly smooth road, but rather that He would provide for us great shock absorbers.

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