Blessings: Lessons Learned From My Dad

I believe that each and every person receives countless blessings. These blessings are different from day to day and from person to person. Some people are blessed with large families, others are blessed with great intelligence, some with wealth, and others with artistic talent.  Some people are blessed with wonderful health…and others have never known how that blessing feels.

My dad was one of those people who was never blessed with great health. Throughout his entire life he faced issues with his knees, arthritis, gout, high blood pressure, severe dental problems, ulcers, emphysema, spinal stenosis, and on and on. I don’t believe he ever had a pain-free day in his adult life.  I sometimes teased him that he was a “lemon” – someone who just wasn’t built right.  The causes for his various ailments ranged from genetics to accidents to smoking to nutrition.  Eight years ago he lost his battle with lung cancer and not a day goes by that I don’t miss him.

Dad was born a farmer who worked hard in order to provide for his family the best he could.  He worked long hours at difficult jobs to care for us.  Family was the most important thing to him and I can’t think of a single thing he wouldn’t do to protect and serve his family.  Sure, he made mistakes.  But he taught me so much about life not with his words, but with his actions.

My dad taught me that family comes first and I knew that he would endure almost anything to make my life better.

Recently I’ve been reflecting on my goals and health as a part of a personal development program called Healthy Mind & Body.  While I was journaling last week, it was as though my world shifted and suddenly I could see something clearly for the first time.  To quote Oprah, I had an “Aha!” moment.

My dad was never blessed with good health.  More than anything, he wanted his children and grandchildren to be happy and live good lives.  So, WHY IN THE WORLD was I squandering my health?  Why wasn’t I making the health of my family, and myself, a priority?

While I’ve been telling myself I’m too busy to go to the gym, my friend has shuffled back and forth between the hospital rooms of two of her children.

While I’ve made excuses to put off an annual exam, another friend succumbed to her fight with breast cancer.

While I’ve made excuse after excuse for terrible nutrition, I watched my cousin pray that her son would just be able to keep some nutrients down during his chemotherapy and bone marrow transplant.

I work with many people who struggle with PTSD, clinical depression, addiction, and attempted suicide, yet I was ignoring my declining mental health and happiness.

And while I’ve mourned for the loss of my dad to cancer, I’ve allowed my family’s health to be pushed so far onto the back burner that it’s basically fallen off the stove and into the sink with the dirty dishes.

This precious, amazing gift of good health that I’ve had all my life is something that people pray for with every ounce of faith in their being.  And here I’ve been, sitting in a society full of affluence, taking my health for granted, and lazily, blindly consuming whatever I felt like.  The only thing keeping me from ideal health was myself.

NO more.

So, Dad, I know you’re watching.  And I get it now.  I will no longer take my health for granted.  I will fight for it, and for the health of my family.  Oh, how I wish you were still here and you were able to spoil the grandchildren you loved so much.  My husband would say you’d be spoiling me, your Daddy’s Girl, too.  But, since you’re not here, I promise you that I will do whatever is in my power to ensure healthy, happy lives for us.  Because you taught me that family comes first and it is a parent’s job to do all we can to provide for our children.  Sorry it took me 7 years to learn this lesson, but I now have a fire lit in my soul.

So, watch out world!  This Daddy’s girl is on a mission.

Show me some love