WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES

This year Friday, the 13th came just before Valentine's Day. You had a day celebrated as being unlucky, followed by a day where people celebrate love and sweethearts. School children even had their Valentine's Day parties on Friday, the 13th.

What a difference a day makes.

The older I get, the more I realize that one day can make a big difference. Sometimes a good day is followed by a bad. Other times it is a bad day that is followed by a good one. Either way, it is important to be prepared.

 Lately, I've been having some trouble with illness, back pain severe enough it has affected my walking. I was in constant pain. In time, however, the pain was only present as I moved. Then the pain was only present during and after exercise. Exercise was always necessary or I wouldn't be able to walk properly.

Oh, I was so tired of constantly hurting, of pain with every step. When I was able to walk with a cane and return to work, I still came home to a messy house. I barely had the energy to make it up the steps to my bedroom to rest. I was so weary of the nagging pain and messy house, I was always close to or in tears.

--But each day I saw a new improvement. I could stand to work a few more minutes on the Nu-Step elliptical machine at the YMCE, or I could walk a step or two without my cane. I was sleeping through the night a little better. Yes, each day was an improvement.

Life is like that. There is a constant ebb and flow to things. One day can make a drastic difference in one's situation and perspective.

I once heard a PSA for a suicide hot line that said, "Don't try to solve a temporary problem with a permanent solution." Wise words.

I know I have gotten through a lot of hardship by remembering the famous last words in Gone With The Wind. "After all, tomorrow is another day."


How very true.