Moderation and Monkey Backsides

Well bless my heart! I was going to give this big confession and sermon on moderation, but I couldn’t find moderation referenced anywhere in the Bible! Does that mean I’m good to go?

Oh, yeah. There were plenty of verses about self-control, but I pretty much blew that virtue to bits at age three!

Moderation is like a recipe direction. Like cooking where I season to taste, I sometimes attack life with the same attitude. If a little is good, a lot is better! I’m embarrassed to say that like ol’ Sinatra, I do things my way. And I do pay the consequences.

So here is what I was going to write which doesn’t make sense since I couldn’t find a verse about moderation.

As I reflect on my many misguided attempts at doing my best, I think back to nearly two years ago. I got these lovely new knees. In trying extra hard to not be a wimp, I blew out my lungs with blood clots during physical therapy at the hospital. That set me back several weeks as I recouped. Obviously, I recovered. Praise the Lord, I would live to screw up something else.

As I enthusiastically attempted to strengthen my body after surgery and rehab, I overdid the repetitions on the same muscle groups and ended up with bursae. How is that fair? Doing my best meant I caused more pain and ended up with another round of physical therapy to readjust my body and my mindset. Crazy.

Well, my latest ‘hit it hard and get it over with’ is taking a while to mend.

Back in Illinois, the air in the winter would get so dry we would end up with chapped lips. Have you ever seen one of those monkeys with brightly colored bottoms? We would have what I called monkey butt lips.

And people, I have ended up with some serious, monkey butt lips!

It started with the dermatology appointment we schedule every two years. The dermatologist found a place on my lip that she burned. On a followup visit, it was still troublesome. She looked at both the upper and lower lips. Her ‘hmm, there seems to be -”  The unfinished sentence sealed the deal. I would apply the cancer fighting cream with abandon! Dr. Google assured me that after a few weeks of using it, my lips would blister, crack, and peel. The resulting new skin would be worth the grossness and pain.

So I went overboard on applying the cream. Dr. Google said it wouldn’t damage healthy skin, so I figured my lips were indeed damaged as it wreaked havoc. I tried it on a few other spots on my neck and face, and since it affected some spots and left others okay, I assume Dr. Google was correct. After a few weeks of applying it, the pain was too great, and I quit.

However, I am still battling the consequences of my immoderate choice. It’s getting better, but maybe I’ve learned a lesson.

Probably not.

My question is this, when will I learn to do things in moderation?

Since that is a concept beyond my ability level, I’ll probably keep doing stupid stuff with great enthusiasm and totally misguided logic until my dying day. But not all is lost! I provide a wonderful ‘negative example’ for others to learn from and have another crazy thing to blog about.

Yeah, total idiocy!

In Philippians 4:9 Paul says, “The thing you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”

Let’s just say, in following anything I say and do, think about it a bit first! Except to follow any words from Scripture. That is perfect and true and worth following to the letter!

Blessings

KB