Rainy Walk

Eddie Rabbit certainly loved a rainy night, but I think a rainy walk is far better for the soul.

Long walks have a way of relieving my tension.

About fifteen years ago, I had a two week period of where my family and I were going through some personal turmoil.  Every day I would take a walk and every day during that period I felt God met me on that walk.  He gave me comfort and strength that only He could give to face another uncertain day.  There is also something about the rain that helps me forget about everything else swirling in my life and helps me regain focus.

That was most definitely the case a few weeks ago, in early October, when I needed to take the company vehicle in for an oil change. It was raining, chilly and ugly out and I just felt this deep need to walk anyway. 

The reason I decided to go for a mile walk after I dropped off the vehicle was to get a dollar coffee from a convenience store.  I knew despite having an umbrella that I would get my feet and possibly more, because of the shifting wind.  There was no one else even out on the sidewalks, at least where there were sidewalks in this rural area, and there was grassy slopes in some spots. This mile or so walk gave me lots of time to think and lots of things to observe and learn from everywhere I turned.

Alongside the road in the grass, this is what I found discarded:

1-Perrier bottle   2-Dunkin Donuts coffee cup 3-McDonald’s hamburger wrapper 4-Lottery ticket 5-DO NOT TURN sign.

What do all five of these items represent?  Here is my best response to that question:

1-Perrier bottle -Someone with an expensive taste for water, who was too lazy to dispose of his or her expensive bottle properly.  Possibly, they felt entitled to throw the trash wherever they wanted.

2-Dunkin Donuts coffee cup- There always seems to be a discarded coffee container whenever I go for a walk.  Maybe people just don’t care or are in a hurry and think no one will notice.

3- McDonald’s hamburger wrapper-  This gives a whole new definition for eating on the run.  Makes sense though, because busy people often tend to think they don’t have enough time and often excuse themselves from following proper etiquette.  Or perhaps the person was just lazy.

4- Lottery ticket- The obvious reason is the person gave the ticket a toss because was it was not a winner.  Disgust can motivate us to do irresponsible things.  No way would someone throw something valuable out their window.

5- DO NOT TURN sign- My guess is that a fairly large vehicle hit this sign and mangled it.  Perhaps, the driver didn’t have any time to do anything proper with it, so it was left discarded randomly on the side of the road. Maybe,  it even did some damage to their vehicle and they cast it off in a rage.

It has been my experience, that people and objects often seem more real when you are wet from walking in the rain.  Long walks tend to diffuse the stupid, senseless thoughts in life.  Tired muscles help you focus on what TRULY MATTERS: God, family, others and dry clothes.

Rainy walks are known to help shift your focus on to things that truly matter.

Swavel

Painful Subject

 
 

Pain must never triumph.

No one likes pain, yet when it comes to this time of the year and football - aches and pains are inevitable.  For example, who can forget the devastating injury that Redskins’ quarterback, Joe Theismann, received inadvertently on November 18^th, 1985.  It was on Monday Night Football, that he had his career ended, when his leg was gruesomely broken inadvertently by Giants’ linebacker, Lawrence Taylor, while millions watched in horror. 

We all know what a broken legs is, however, now a days there are a lot of football injuries that are not so easy to decipher.  So, since I am not a medical doctor, I simply went on Web MD and the internet. In an effort to have a clearer knowledge of the game, here are some medical terms that you have already or soon will be hearing in regard to football injuries:

The first three injuries are somewhat common in football and all are related to the same area of the body- the knee and the ligaments that hold it in place.   These ligaments consist of strong fibers that function like the strands of a rope that holds the upper bone of the leg (femur) to the lower bone of the leg (tibia).   All three of these injuries can range in severity from a strain, to a sprain, to a partial tear to a complete tear.

When you hear the term, ACL, though it sounds like it is a life threatening illness, it is actually referring to an Anterior Cruciate Ligament injury.  The ACL is the front ligament inside the knee, which is the top strand of what appears to be an X pattern, which does its part to hold the femur to the tibia.  Worst case scenario is when a football player cuts too quickly or is hit the wrong way, completely tearing his ACL ending his season.   NFL example: Kansas City running back, Jamal Charles, just completely tore his ACL in week five of this season, while making a cut to allude a Chicago Bears’ defender, thereby ending his season.  This unfortunately is the second time this has happened to him in the last five years.

When the acronym, PCL, is spoken, it does not refer to a money lending bank, but rather an injury to the Posterior Cruciate Ligament.  The PCL is the other ligament inside the knee, underneath the ACL on the bottom strand of the X, which also connects the femur to the tibia.  This injury takes place most often when a player is struck at a prone angle by an opponent, and when torn, takes about a year to fully heal.  NFL example: WR Kennan Allen, in 2012, tore his PCL in college, causing his draft status to slip.  However, the San Diego Chargers drafted him anyway and in his third season appears to be hitting his stride as an up and coming wide receiver.    

The term, MCL, when mentioned, is not referring to an abbreviation for a phone company, but instead to an injury to the Medial Collateral Ligament.   The MCL keeps the inside portion of the knee stable, while connecting it to the femur and the tibia.  The MCL injury is usually caused by a direct blow to the knee, and again a full tear will take about year to fully heal.  NFL example: Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers’ quarterback, just sprained his MCL this season in week three, when a St. Louis Rams’ safety hit his knee awkwardly with his helmet. He has hopes of playing again in week seven or eight, due to the fact the injury was not a tear.

A BROKEN CLAVICLE is not an out of tune wood wind instrument that is played in the marching band.  Rather, a broken clavicle is when you fracture your collar bone, often when a player drives his opponent into the ground, breaking the bone in two.  NFL example: Cowboys’ quarterback, Tony Romo, broke his clavicle, for the second time in six years, against the Eagles in week two when a rookie linebacker rode him to the ground.  Subsequently, he will probably miss more than half the season, in hopes of returning around week eleven.

  

PLANTAR FASCITIS is not someone who is suffering from eating too many Planter’s assorted nuts.  Instead, it is when the rubber band that attaches the balls of the foot to the heel becomes frayed from straining too hard without properly stretching first.  Take it from someone who suffered from it, it feels like someone is shooting a nail gun into bottom of your foot each time you step on it wrong, till it loosen up or heals. NFL example: All-Pro tight end, Jimmy Graham, played for the Saints in October of 2013, when he suffered a partial tear in his plantar fascia.  However, despite the anguish, he continued to play still putting up above average stats.

A TORN LABRUM is not when someone gets their ear drum punctured by diving into a shallow swimming pool.  Rather, the labrum is a piece of rubbery tissue attached to the rim of the shoulder socket, that helps keep the ball of the joint in place, that when jammed into the ground cause this potentially career ending  injury.  It is a very difficult injury to fully recover from and to be able to perform up to previous standards.  NFL example:  Record setting quarterback, Drew Brees, tore his labrum in 2005 while playing for the San Diego Chargers and many feared he would never be the same.  However, he got it repaired, religiously rehabbed and four years later went on to win the Super Bowl with the New Orleans Saints.

In summary, now you can clearly understand what these hard to follow terms now mean.  However, pain is a part of life, just like in football.  Regardless, the injury, we need to get treatment, press on, and keep playing, if at all possible.  Whatever you do, don’t let pain sideline you, or worse yet, cause you to regret what might have been.

To get a passing grade in life, one must ace the painful subjects.

Swavel

Free Coffee

A pick me up is always a good thing.

What an awesome concept - free coffee.  Tuesday, September 29^th was National Coffee Day and one convenience store was giving away free coffee, any size, all day as a result.  Coffee is the ultimate pick me up, and when you are giving it away for free, not many can resist.

Well, honestly I didn’t know about the coffee give away until mid-morning.  But, when I heard the news, like Hannibal Smith from the A-Team, I gathered a plan to get as many cups of coffee as possible.  Here is how the day went:

1-During work, I had to get fuel in the company vehicle.  So, I went to that particular convenience store -got a free coffee.

2-On my way home from work, while taking a fellow employee to his house, I stopped again.   This was to give me a boost on the way home- got a free coffee.

3-Later that night, I took my daughter out to get her a doughnut and you guessed it – got a free coffee.

So, why give away coffee for free?  Beats me, however, here are some educated guesses:

1-When you give away free coffee you show appreciation and tend to produce loyalty.

2- When you give away free coffee you make an emotional connection.  Especially, if once you go into the store and the people who are providing the hot beverages are warm and friendly. 

3- When you give away free coffee you create muscle memory.  It has been said, in order to create a new habit, you must do something repeatedly for about three weeks.  Strangely enough, the convenience store that was giving away free coffee is now running a month long special where all coffee is $1.

Why are we attracted to free or, better yet, why am I attracted to free offers?

1-For some reason, whether rational or not, free makes me feel good.

2- It gets my adrenaline flowing, kind of like Christmas.

3-We all like to be appreciated, which is what the point of free coffee on National Coffee Day revolves around.

All this getting something for free, got me to thinking.  Since I am a follower of Jesus, I have received the free gift of salvation many years ago, as well as the promise of living with Him forever.  Out of appreciation, I now do my best to use my life to follow Him.  It isn’t without a struggle, because I am human and tend wander and get lost at times.  However, Jesus never forces our allegiance, but He does ask for an exclusive relationship, that we follow only Him.  He said in John Chapter 14, “I am the way, the truth, the life.”  Which makes sense, because Jesus so longs to be with us.

Simply stated, like free coffee, some offers like Jesus’ one are just too good to refuse.

     

Swavel