I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve had to either go for physical therapy or have a therapist come to my home. Even though I know the different exercises in the recess of my mind, I sometimes drop the ball and just don’t bother to exercise.
Several years ago I was doing my bed exercises both in the morning and at night. I got so much better and lost over 20 pounds. I was able to use my walker some and was feeling pretty good. But another fall, problems with transferring from my bed, and other circumstances led me back to some weight gain and laziness from the chance of falling.
My husband used to say I wasn’t afraid of anything and I do not allow myself to live in fear, but sometimes I do allow caution to hold me back. All winter, I have hibernated in my recliner because of problems I’ve had with my power wheelchair. I know I am not eating healthy and I just kept getting weaker. So with the advice of my doctors, I knew it was time to start all over again.
Sometimes this requires a leader and a “coach” to make me work towards my goal. Well, the therapists always ask what my goal is – and this time it is to at least be able to stand long enough to pull up my clothes, pivot, and sit down on the toilet, chair, bed, etc. With an energetic young coach, I saw four weeks ahead with two days a week of pushing myself to the limit.
In the first session, the therapist said, “Well, you’ve got to start somewhere! (As in two sets of 10, or even three of each exercise.)
I knew she was right and I also felt a story forming. “You’ve got to start somewhere” doesn’t apply just to a physical therapy class, but also to getting back in the water as soon as the temperature warms up. The water at the YMCA has just been too cold for me in the winter but a six-week arthritis class in the pool at the Rufty Holmes Center has reminded me what positive effects warm water exercise has on my body.
Now I do have to cope with the difficulty of getting my swimsuit on and off, but again I had to “start somewhere.” I learned in 2002 when I was in therapy for five weeks after the major multiple sclerosis attack that there might be times when I would have to dress or undress in a reclining position. Unfortunately, those days have returned. Since the outdoor temperature has been warming up, I decided it would just be easier to drive home in my wet suit. But then that means I can’t go in air conditioning anywhere, so there is another challenge.
While writing about “starting somewhere,” thoughts came to my mind about the large number of people who have never got started reading the Bible. Sometimes their intentions are good, but following are some excuses I used to make and have heard others give:
?I tried to read the Bible, but it was boring.
?The print is too small. (Large print is available now.)
?The wording is out-of-date. (Revised English is available.)
?It’s too long; I don’t have time to read the Bible.
?That’s not the kind of thing I like to read.
?I would rather watch television. (The Bible is on the internet.)
?I can’t pronounce all those words.
Most of the time if someone decides that they will “try” to read the Bible, they will automatically start with Genesis 1:1, “In the Beginning?” But then often they will get bogged down between Exodus and Leviticus and never read any further.
I’ve been told that beginning Bible readers should start with the Book of John in the New Testament. That chapter also starts with “In the beginning?”
The Bible is just like other non-fiction books. It is full of births and deaths (young and old,) love and hate, joy and anger, sadness and happiness. There are examples of rape, murder, incest, cannibalism, and all the sinful horrors we hear about in today’s society. But there is also the story of love and redemption. We are all sinners and have “fallen short of the glory of God.”
The Book of Leviticus is known as “The Book of the Law” and this Christian nation “had to start somewhere”? so a lot of our laws are based on the examples in God’s Holy Word, the Bible. We all have broken God’s laws and some of the laws of our nation. But the Bible also teaches us about love, repentance and forgiveness; and the greatest gift of all?Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
Well, I had “to start somewhere” and just as the physical therapy class had to end, so must this story.

Linda Beck lives in Woodleaf.