Deal With It Small

Injuries can be subtle, yet nefarious characters. If caught soon enough and properly tended to, then they can be dealt with and cause limited disruption to the regular training plan. If small injuries are ignored, or if they are actually more significant than they may first seem, then they often rise up and demand attention. The most frustrating aspect of being injured to me is that the injury takes away the ability to perform without taking away the desire. The "want to" remains, but the "able to" is gone--temporarily.

My friend Jim from church put this in perspective when he mentioned that several years ago he had run a long race through what he thought was a minor injury. He ended up losing an entire year of activity to recovery. So I feel a little better about not running this coming Sunday.

I think that the "deal with it small" principle applies in other areas of life as well. With interpersonal relationships, if we deal with issues while they remain small, then the friendship can most often be salvaged. If we wait until the issues become huge, then we may have sacrificed the friendship on the altar of "maybe it will get better on its own."

NEWS FLASH--RARELY DO THINGS GET BETTER ON THEIR OWN

In the marketplace, if we deal with frustrations and problems while they are still small, then we give ourselves a way to improve the situation. If we wait until things get big, then we sometimes feel like our only option is to quit that job and look elsewhere. If we deal with the incipient coldness-of-heart toward God at the first touch of chill, then we can restore that relationship quickly to its intended closeness. If we wait for the full onset of hard-heartedness, then we often find ourselves far down a road that we really don't want to be walking on--and with a long way to get back to the warmth and light of home.

It may not feel fun to deal with the issues, but again, they will not get better on their own--if you just ignore them. A wise person once said, "Do the next right thing--again and again."

Pressing On!
-Ken