Expect the Worst…Hope for the Best

Years ago I was fretting about some college exams and my mother made sure I understood, “You expect the worst, hope for the best and most times it ends up somewhere in the middle.”  I was reflecting on that philosophy this week while going through some of my notes from reading I’ve done in the past couple of months. 

I read, “Dancing at the River’s Edge”.  The book is co-written between a woman with lupus and her doctor (the doctor’s portion much more interesting than the patient’s).  There was a line in the book where a doctor says to the woman, “I can make you better, but I can’t make you well.”

This line resonated with me because it followed the expect the worst…hope for the best mentality.  The idea that once you receive the diagnosis there is always a crack in the cosmic egg.  That one little Achilles heal that even if you recover leaves a spot of vulnerability.  It’s the reason why it’s so important to revel in the joy of health on any level.

The first question to ask yourself then is, “What is better mean?’  It would require you to take an inventory regarding your physical, emotional, and spiritual being and mark that as your baseline…the starting point.  If you were to “get better” what would that look like?  How would you know you’re experiencing “better”?

Understanding your personal health continuum allows you to become more intimate with your life on many levels.  It allows you to tune into your body, mind, and spirit so you’re better able to provide the resources they need to improve your current situation.  Having the ability and the willingness to move up the health continuum propels you on your pilgrimage to health.

Like the line in the book says, you may not be well, but better is an improvement and that leads to hope.  Hope is the foundation for moving along the health continuum.  It fortifies body, mind, and spirit. 

What does better look like to you?  How would you like to work on “getting better”?  Are there things you’d like to commit to so you move in that direction?  I’d love to hear the actions you’re taking to “get better”.