Listen…

I just wanted to say thanks for checking in on your holiday if you have today to sit at home and recuperate from the long holiday weekend.  If you’re still on the job wishing you were home recuperating, DANG IT!  Rest assured, you’re not alone. I’m out in the trenches just like you.  And just like the lucky ones sitting at home nursing a sour gut from all the barbecue and overindulgence and a pounding head from the consumption of maybe several too many adult-like beverages, I wanna say thanks for stopping in. It was 234 years ago that 13 new colonies declared independence from Britain.  I don’t quite think we can imagine how scary and difficult that must have been.

Think about it…

Thirteen tiny colonies comprised of a menagerie of individuals not very well suited for battle.  Hungry with less than adequate firepower in a new land they were quite likely unsure of and yet still willing to draw a line in the sand and accept what will come.

Why they did this was most likely because the alternative life was not what they were after.  They desired a better life and decided to fight for it.

This scenario reminds me of the choices one can make everyday.  They don’t seem to be as dramatic and life threatening as waging war, yet in the end the accumulation of these small choices make a large impact.

Right now as I sit and write to you, the pre-fireworks of the homemade variety are banging loudly in the background in anticipation of the big show later on tonight.  Many celebrations are taking place, food and drink are being consumed and conversations of the casual variety are taking place.  Every last person right this very minute is making small choices that will ultimately make an impact on their life.

Some are choosing to eat another braut or drink another beer.  This will definitely effect how they feel in a few hours or tomorrow morning.  Some are choosing to sit quietly without voicing their feelings about that could-be special someone standing across the room instead of throwing caution to the wind and stepping forward to initiate an introductory conversation.  Tomorrow they may wish they would have taken the plunge and sacrificed potential embarrassment if the meeting went south.  That is especially true if that could-be someone happens to go home with a real dork at the party.

I would venture to say that most regret the things they didn’t do rather than the things they wished they hadn’t.  So picture yourself in 20 years on the front porch one evening thinking back on your life.  You’re older now and most likely much wiser.  We’d all like to think we’ll be wiser for our efforts in 20 years.  This particular evening you’re thinking back to all the things you wish you’d done.  The opportunities you should have grasped with both hands and held tightly to that are all but memories now.

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could remember just a few things you hadn’t done and wished you had?  It’s probably appropriate to say at this point that the reason you can only remember a couple of things you wish you had done and didn’t was because you got out there and took the bull by the horns without hesitation rather than memory loss from the onset of dementia.

So memory loss aside, as you sit on that porch in the evening hours and reminisce, I hope your thoughts are fondly moving through the years with images of all the chances you took even though you were unsure of the outcome.  I hope you can remember the initial fear and insecurity you felt.  And, I hope you can recall that regardless of the outcome you awoke the next morning to live another day.

I’ll just bet that most of those chances you took turned out just fine and you were a better person for the experience.  At the very least, the experience left you wiser.

I also would like to think that one of the fond images that flashes through your memory banks is the day you decided to make an effort to get healthy and heal your knee pain.  I want you to remember the day you chose to take your health into your own hands, decided to eat healthier, move your body and lose weight.  I want you to remember how great you felt because of your efforts.  I want you to be thankful that you chose to be diligent with conscious choices instead of taking the easy way out by popping pain pills and anti-inflammatory drugs waiting for knee surgery to deal with your knee pain.

You don’t have to go it alone.  I’m here to help you in every way I can.  I know I can help you…all you have to do is take the chance and make the effort.

I too, want to sit on my porch and look back at my life with a fondness and not regret.  I want to remember you writing to me or walking up to me, introducing yourself and saying thanks for helping you heal your knee pain.  I’m here putting out the effort and energy to make that scenario happen for me.  All I ask is that you join me on this journey of choice.

From me to you, have a great holiday.  Have fun, stay safe and meet me here tomorrow.

Until next time…

Get strong and stay strong,

Rochelle Gravance