The sneeze that rocked my world!

The other day, I was walking up the stairs and felt a sneeze coming on. Not wanting to wake up my sleeping college student in a nearby room with a BOOMING sneeze(as I am certainly know for), I held it in. I stifled my sneeze. I did what they tell you NOT to do. And, I paid a price. A big price.

I felt a sharp pain and it was not going away. I was on my way to meet my running partner to run 3 miles, so I headed out the door and began walking to our meeting point...I had a horrible pain in my stomach. I tried a light jog just to see how it was going to feel once we started running and it hurt. I couldn't imagine how I was going to run. Once I met up with her, I told her my sad story and explained that I may not be able to run the entire route. We started running and amazingly, the pain wasn't so bad. I made it the whole way.

We stopped for coffee before walking home. My body was stiff. It was hard to sit and cross my legs. Simple things suddenly became very tedious. I had no idea that would be my last run for the week.

That night, I had trouble getting comfortable in bed. I woke up even more stiff and sore ... I had to walk so gingerly and take precaution not to agitate my already sore belly. I tried stretching but, that hurt too much. I got my leg about halfway across my body and over my other leg before I screamed out in pain. That was as far as I could go. At Easter Sunday mass, I felt more like a little old lady than my usual spry self as I slowly kneeled in the pews. Getting up was even harder. Ugh...how long was this going to last?

I started to panic. I am in the midst of training for the Bay to Breakers 12k in May. I had 4 training runs to complete this week. And cross training to do. At that moment, I thought of a familiar saying, "If you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans!" I suddenly realized I wasn't in control anymore. And, that scared the hell out of me.

As each day passed, I tried to figure out what God was trying to tell me. What is the lesson He wants me to learn from this? How could a simple sneeze wreak such havoc on my body and my life and more importantly my training plan?! It was frustrating to say the least. Then, it hit me.

Thankfulness and Gratitude were two lessons I needed to learn. You see, lately, I had been going through a little bit of the "Poor Me's" or "Why don't I have this or that?" or "I sure wish I was going somewhere tropical for spring break." I really try to instill in my children not to want what you don't have and to be content with what you do have, but was I practicing what I preach? Apparently not.

God has always been very good at getting my attention. I remember very clearly, 14 years ago, when my life was going in a direction that was not the best route. That was the year I found out I had MS. It stopped me in my tracks, literally. And, believe me, that whipped me into shape real fast!

So, here I was, practically a cripple with this awful pain in my abdomen. I saw the doctor on Monday. He checked for a hernia but, luckily that was not the case. He told me it was most likely a strained ab muscle, to take some Aleve, take it easy, and that it should feel much better by Friday. In the mean time, I couldn't run. Couldn't lift. Couldn't even break a sweat. There goes my training, I thought.

The week went on. I had a hard time doing my job. I work with Special Ed children and that requires me to get down on the carpet with them, dance, sing and jump around at morning circle, tie shoes, have energy galore. Thursday morning, I woke up and did my stretches that I had been doing each morning. But, as I was stretching, I heard something pop and felt a jabbing pain in my adbomen. Sort of like the "charlie horses" I would get in my legs when I was a kid jumping on my parent's bed. I layed on the floor in excrutiating pain, so afraid to move and create further damage. It was getting late and I had to get ready for work. So, I managed to crawl to my room, and get in the shower. I held onto the safety bar in the shower and I made sure my cell phone was within reach. I had terrible visions of myself falling in the shower and not being able to get help.

When I got out of the shower, it was a chore just to towel off my body. I tried to put one leg in my pants but, the pain was too much. I fell to the ground and just sobbed. I cried and pleaded to God to "please take the pain away." The only thing that felt good was to lie completely still on my back, on my yoga mat. I knew there was no way I could go to work. I somehow managed to call into work (I had to make 3 separate phone calls) and fell asleep on my yoga mat, half-dressed and still wet from my shower. My sweet dog curled up at my feet keeping a protective watch over her crumpled mama.

Well, it has been exactly one week since that sneeze that shook me to my core...and I am happy to report that I am almost 100% again. I was able to run this morning (yay!) and I can move around with relative ease, no longer looking like that little old lady in the front pew at church.

Although, the pains in body are nearly gone, the lessons I learned this past week are invaluable and ever-present. I learned that I have no right to take a single thing for granted. I have been blessed with so much. There is nothing that I need that I don't already have. Life is precious and can change in a heartbeat (or a sneeze!) so, enjoy it moment by moment. It's only when you realize how awful things could be, that you can truly appreciate how wonderful things really are. It's God's plan. And, it's perfect.

This was the daily devotion I read on Friday morning...(after my horrible day on Thursday)
"As you go through this day, trust Me to provide the strength that you need moment by moment. Don't waste energy wondering whether you are adequate for today's journey. My spirit within you is more than sufficient to handle whatever this day may bring."

Amen.