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Remember, I have moved my book reviews to their own blog. Tracy's Book Nook is now active.


Wednesday, April 9

Cracked Heels

As I was walking through my home today I felt a pain in my heel. Not a sharp pain or a serious pain, but a familiar pain. I've had this pain before. Immediately I knew what it was. A quick look confirmed it. I had a dry, deeply cracked heel. At once I started chastising myself for going so long without a pedicure. But I'm a new mom, I reasoned, I have other more important priorities right now. True enough, but honestly I've been intending to give myself a mini-pedi for a couple of weeks now. Somehow I just never got to it. So tonight, after getting my wee one down for the night I began. As I sat there soaking my feet in the warm, soapy water, I couldn't imagine what would actually keep me from doing something as nice as this little personal care act. Actually, I knew what it was - neglect and procrastination.

I began pondering this thought and I saw that this little incident of a cracked heel could really be a metaphor for so many other things in life. In what other ways can neglect and procrastination become cracks that hurt us? In relationships? Certainly. In responsibilities? Absolutely. In not being the best us that we can be? Without a doubt.

If I neglect my husband or my daughter, our relationship would definitely suffer. It would cause pain and anger and we could become just another statistic. It would be a sad situation all the way around, and that is not okay. If I neglect my relationship with God, it would be flat and one-sided. He will always love me and be there for me, but I would be detached, I would suffer. That is not okay. If I neglect my 86 year old grandmother, whom I love very much, and procrastinate the long drive to go see her, I may not see her again. And that is not okay.

If I neglect my responsibilities, others will find me to be irresponsible, untrustworthy and lazy. And that is not okay. If I neglect myself (heels included), I will live a life that is substandard, I will cause myself pain. And that is not okay. It is imperative that I choose to love and take care of myself, eat well, always continue to learn and grow, and to be the absolute best me that I can be.

Life happens, it's true. But life is going to happen with or without our participation. It is up to us to choose whether or not we are going to be active participants. It is up to us to determine if we live a life filled with neglect and procrastination or care and action.

"See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live." ~ Deut. 30:15,19

(C) 2008 Tracy Keck

8 comments:

Josh said...

Awesome post Tracy. It is filled with lots of wisdom and truth. Sadly, I have had many "cracks" in my life that I failed to take care of. Thankfully, God helped me repair them, even though I ended up making life a lot harder than it needed to be by neglecting them. It is important to take a "proactive" approach to our relationships rather than a "reactive" approach.

If you don't mind, I'd like to link to your blog from my blog. Let me know if that is alright with you. :)

Thank you for stepping out and sharing your wonderful pieces of writing with all of us.

Anonymous said...

This is a great post and something I probably needed to read. I've been neglecting a lot of things lately that I know I shouldn't.

Again, Great post!

-Becky

p.s. I'm Kiddo on Faithwriters. :o)

Althea said...

Loved your first post. I laughed when I opened this up because you picked the same template as I for the colors. ;)

LauraLee Shaw said...

Neglect. A buddy of mine. Incredible wisdom spread throughout here. It challenged me.

Joanney said...

Great devotional. I really enjoyed your connection between procrastination and neglect of your personal care and relationships and responsibility.

I also chuckled at Althea's comment because I also used the same colors and template on my blog. Great minds think alike.

Terri Tiffany said...

Great blog! Thanks for the congrats to me on FaithWriters! Keep writing! terri

Glynis said...

Welcome to the blogging world! Your post is wonderful. We take so many things for granted. Thanks for the reminder not to :)
I'm gracelikerain @ FW !!

Shalene said...

Very well said, Tracy! I couldn't agree more. Blessings to you, and yours! I'll come back and see you again soon.