Five Good and One Bad
Friends, I confirmed this afternoon a harsh truth that I've suspected for a while.
As you know, since my allergy diagnosis I've relied on 70% dark chocolate as a fairly low-consequence treat. Chocolate has been one of my favorite things for my entire life, and so long as I stuck with better quality products made with just the three simple ingredients it seemed as if I could continue to indulge once in a while. (Or, ok, more than once in a while when I'm not doing so hot with compliance...)
Well, no more.
This afternoon I ate some dark chocolate and promptly got sick. It was pretty ugly, but not entirely unexpected as I've had similar, but less serious, tummy distress a few times over the last couple of months after eating chocolate. I had tried to dismiss those experiences as something - ANYTHING - else, but today the cause and effect was instantaneous and obvious.
The curious thing is that I really don't want to look at this as a great tragedy. My body is doing it's best to protect me against a harmful substance...and it's doing that by making it clear that it doesn't want me to eat it any more.
The fact of the matter is that this last week has been a good one, so rather than focus on that one bad thing I'd rather shift my perspective so that I can focus on the positive. To that end, here are five GOOD things that happened this week that go a very long way towards making the one bad thing insignificant in the long run.
As you know, since my allergy diagnosis I've relied on 70% dark chocolate as a fairly low-consequence treat. Chocolate has been one of my favorite things for my entire life, and so long as I stuck with better quality products made with just the three simple ingredients it seemed as if I could continue to indulge once in a while. (Or, ok, more than once in a while when I'm not doing so hot with compliance...)
Well, no more.
This afternoon I ate some dark chocolate and promptly got sick. It was pretty ugly, but not entirely unexpected as I've had similar, but less serious, tummy distress a few times over the last couple of months after eating chocolate. I had tried to dismiss those experiences as something - ANYTHING - else, but today the cause and effect was instantaneous and obvious.
The curious thing is that I really don't want to look at this as a great tragedy. My body is doing it's best to protect me against a harmful substance...and it's doing that by making it clear that it doesn't want me to eat it any more.
The fact of the matter is that this last week has been a good one, so rather than focus on that one bad thing I'd rather shift my perspective so that I can focus on the positive. To that end, here are five GOOD things that happened this week that go a very long way towards making the one bad thing insignificant in the long run.
- For the first time in years, I'm feeling contentment with regards to my home. What's changed? I've been making it a point to actually use my basement nook...and I'm finding that it's making all of the difference in the world.
- I'm completely free of the shingles yet...but the symptoms are dwindling, and every day I feel better than the day before. I don't think I can even begin to tell you what a blessing this is. Curiously enough, the shingles did bring about a blessing through some insight shared with me by my acupuncturist during a treatment last Friday. It's given me food for thought, and some ideas for how to fine tune my journey towards better health. Once again, I'm amazed by this woman...who knows more about health, and about the connection between the emotional/spiritual and the physical than anyone else I have ever known.
- I discovered last week that the principal at our middle school is truly amazing. She responded to a specific concern we had with the perfect combination of sympathy, concern and action. It's good to know we have such good people looking out for our kids.
- Yesterday I traveled to St. Louis for a meeting with the Mission Center Council for my church. It was an amazing meeting that reconfirmed for me the fact that we have some really wonderful people working to face the challenges our church is currently facing. I find myself reinvigorated and once again excited about my ministry.
- I reconnected with an old friend this week, and it was a wonderful, and overwhelmingly positive experience that has pushed me towards making some changes to end the social isolation I've created for myself. Powerful stuff.
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