There are ways to stay healthy. Lifestyle choices matter. Thinking patterns matter.
And how I wish that I had put more thought into this.
I was recently diagnosed with Stage 3a breast cancer.
This is from a person who rarely gets sick. I maintain a mostly healthy weight, stay active, and do not drink or smoke. I don’t sleep around.
Heck, if it looks fun, I’m suspicious.
I follow the rules: speed limits, taxes, relational rules, Home cooked meals, gardens, and chickens. Shouldn’t they be guaranteed a healthy body if one does all of these things?
Here’s the thing. I think there’s more to it than this! Shoot out to all the single moms!
Please note: I am not a doctor. These are simply ponderings of a woman about to enter chemo. These are my thoughts on how I ended up here. Each person should do their research and speak to their physician.
There are ways to stay healthy. But it involves more than just following the rules.
I took my health for granted. My family has always been healthy, and I saw no reason that it would be different for me.
Being a single mom has a whole host of challenges, and stopping to consider my health did not occur to me.
But looking back, I can see there were ways to protect myself more than I did. Taking the time to acknowledge these can guide me to a better place of health now.
Maybe I can help other single moms avoid the mistakes that I’ve made!
Guarding your thoughts is vital to health.
The road as a single mom is hard. And my journey was brutal.
But looking back, I can see that I let thoughts of hopelessness and despair sit unchecked in my brain.
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
2 Corinthians 105
Hopelessness and despairing thoughts were a steady diet for my mind. I don’t deny that some tough things happened in my life. But I choose to see them from man’s perspective, not God’s.
God never once wrung his hands in despair over my life. He had a good plan for me and these precious kids.
Through every divorce proceeding, bad teacher/parent conference, and attacks from others, I chose despair when God had offered me hope.
You will keep him in perfect peace,
Isaiah 26:3
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.
Life can throw us hardships and obstacles that we can’t prepare for.
But when we grieve without hope and we allow satan’s verdict over our lives to be our constant thought, we are no longer at peace.
The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.
Romans 8:6
When our thoughts are constantly in turmoil, our bodies are not in homeostasis. When your body is not in homeostasis, it is not able to fight against illnesses or diseases as well.
Dr. Henry Wright’s book, A More Excellent Way, goes into this more depth. You can find a link to it here.
Books and More – Single Mom Out West
Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.
Proverbs 4:23
Do not allow thoughts that bring hopelessness and despair into your heart and mind. Above all else, know that God has a good plan for your life!
Grieve, be broken, but do not let thoughts of despair destroy you.
Fight for what brings health and stability.
I’m not a fighter. My mom told me once that I’m a lover, not a fighter. So, please, go ahead and step on me. Sighing pathetically.
But it’s true. I’m a nice person. I don’t make waves. For heaven’s sake, it took me twenty years to figure out how to answer the mean girls in high school.
But you know what happens to peaceful little worms that never cause trouble? They get stepped on.
Another thing that I did wrong? I didn’t fight for what was right and healthy.
I spent years without steady child support; I allowed children to stay in lousy schooling, and I allowed myself to be mistreated.
And do you know what all of that caused? Stress. Stress, that I could have ended if I was willing to stand up and say no.
God gave us boundaries and our voice as a gift. And we must use them.
As single moms, we can no longer play the victim. We must actively stand up for ourselves and our children.
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
Epshesians 5:15-17
Make choices that pursue health.
I might have followed most rules, but I didn’t safeguard my health as much as I should have.
Given my life’s stress, I should have given my body the extra support needed to maintain health.
I do not stand under condemnation—there is no place for that—but I can acknowledge that I took my health for granted.
There are healthy food options that fight cancer, diabetes, and other illnesses.
Most of us in this area find perfection impossible, but what about eating 80% healthy food and cheating on the other 20%?
Sunshine, fresh air, and exercise are vital to a healthy lifestyle and should be pursued at all costs. Refuse a broken spirit!
Choose life. And pursue joy!
A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.
Proverbs 17:22
Actively pursue what brings health: laughter, healthy food, exercise, and boundaries that bring peace.
It’s your choice and mine! Please consider taking the steps to protect and value your health now.
Decreasing stress, practicing boundaries, and treating your body right will give you a better life now and a healthy foundation as you age!
Take small steps to pursue health and joy!
Satan may have laid a trap in this area for some of us, but Jesus came so that we might have life!
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
John 10:10
There are things that we do not have control over, but on the things that we do have control over, we can make wiser choices!
