An old friend reached out to me this past week to share his ongoing battle with Osteoarthritis. Daniel told me that, as a result of his condition, his feet and ankles have essentially collapsed. He is using braces and canes to get around because he can no longer stand and walk more than a few feet and that he is currently waiting for his wheelchair to arrive. He expressed that he is both looking forward to the freedom that his wheelchair will provide, and he is afraid of what life in that chair will be like.
I wasn’t sure how to reply at first, but I thought back to when I was first told that I had broken my neck and I was going to be paralyzed. Panic instantly set over me and my eyes welled up with tears. Then I heard the doctor say something that changed everything. He said that I only had a moment for this sadness, because right then, I needed to preserve energy and focus every ounce of it on fighting to stay alive. The doc said that the trauma to my spinal cord was causing it to swell and soon I would lose the ability to breath.
I had to make a choice right then to either give into self pity, or fight with everything I had in me because my life depended on it. (A little side note to this…I would be doing my faith a great injustice if I were to claim that the strength to survive came from within myself. I might have put in the effort, but God did all of the work, and he still does).
While Daniel isn’t facing life or death at the moment, it was a reminder that we all have our own fears to face. It is important to realize that it’s okay to have fear and nearly everyone fears the unknown, especially when it could be life-changing. How you choose to respond to that fear is up to you and nobody can make that choice except you. You are not alone and you don’t have to endure the fight alone, but you do have to choose to join the fight and refuse to give up.
Daniel can choose to continue fighting and come out on the other side of this struggle with more strength and character than he ever knew existed inside of him. It won’t be easy and nobody will make the hard choices on his behalf, but I know with the right mindset and focus, he can do it.
So can you. You can do the same with whatever seemingly impossible trial you might be facing as well. It is the choices that you make today that will lay the foundation for what your life will become. They might seem trivial in the moment, but all of your choices stack up over time to reveal who you are and what you are capable of accomplishing.
What trial are you facing today? Does it overwhelm you to think about it? Have the courage to let someone know about it and don’t try to go it alone.
If you have some encouraging words for my friend, Daniel, please consider putting them in the comments below. I know it was very helpful for me to have people in my corner encouraging me to keep going.