Contentment

Walking hurts
Sitting hurts
Getting out of bed hurts
Coughing hurts
Sneezing hurts double
Putting my legs into my pants hurts

We take our health and our body for granted everyday when we are healthy and our body is functioning perfectly. When I hurt my back a couple of days ago, and when every single movement uses a bit of the back muscles, I then realize how taken for granted the back is. Not to neglect other vital body parts, like the knees, which make day-to-day living possible.

So my encounter with lower back pain made me really frustrated that I could not walk straight, I could not spring out of my bed, I could not scrub my feet in the shower. And it made me think of all these elderly people who have bent backs and people who are paralyzed. How frustrating it must be for them.

Fortunately the pain I am experiencing was a muscle pull and not a slipped disc. If I had the latter, I would have to put my traveling plans on hold. I have to stop exercising just when I am determined to start again to get fit.

I am recovering well. THANK GOD! I am actually grateful that I hurt my back (without permanent damage). It really made me look at daily life in a different light. It made me happy just to be able to walk almost as fast as I usually do. I am suddenly conscious of every single movement. The gratitude of recovery is priceless. All the money in the world can't buy good health. There is real wisdom in that all of a sudden. I achieved nirvana contentment.

Soon, my back will completely recover, and I will begin to take my body for granted again. I will stop being conscious of my every move. I will stop being contented. I hope I won't forget though. I want to be contented. Because there is so much blessing in my life, and if you really look at yours, you will probably discover some in your life too. Starting at the bottom, the fact that we have clean drinking water. That is a blessing too, in its simplest form. Simple blessings are the best ones. They are widely available, don't cost much (or anything), and yet without them life is infinitely tougher. I love sitting on my bed writing this post on my iPad, in air conditioned comfort, watching my dog sleep so deeply.

Life is beautiful that way when you can go beyond looking at the world to really seeing it. But the beauty is limited. We will fall ill, and one day too ill to recover fully. Our lives will be inhibited by our body. So while we are healthy and our body is functioning properly, we should do as much living as we can.

I am in a happy state now. Happier than I have been in months. I did not even need to buy a new pair of shoes to make myself happy. Thanks to my backache.