OT

On Tuesday, I went to my first session with the occupational therapist. She measured how far I could stretch my arms, showed me how to massage my neck scar so that it would unstick from my neck (I have scar tissue issues), showed me different stretches and exercises for my arm, and told me to come twice a week for the next 4 weeks. I'm not where I need to be.

As she stretched my right arm and tried to teach me different exercises, I could hear myself grunting and yowling... in pain. I tried really hard to stop myself but it was really weird how those grunts kept coming out. Then there was the breathing issue. Each time I did an exercise, I would stop breathing. Just as I noticed this strange phenomenon, the OT noticed it and told me to remember to breathe. In between my grunting and yowling, she would keep reminding me to breathe. I felt like a little kid.

My OT had told me that I needed to stretch and exercise certain muscles because I had not used them in so long. If I continued to ignore them, they would atrophy (degenerate or waste away). This would mean less strength and less movement in those muscles.

Wednesday morning I woke up thinking about my OT session. Thoughts of how painful it was, how much I didn't want to do those stretches and exercises, and how much I needed to do them, flooded my mind. As I lay in bed in between half asleepdom and half awakedom, I was reminded of my life as a Christian. My spiritual muscles cannot be ignored if I want to live a vibrant life for Him. I need to keep studying His Word. I need to keep seeking Him in prayer. I need to keep giving myself in service to Him. I need to keep living for Him and not myself. I need to keep on my spiritual toes.