Don't be a helper

Last week I was referred by my doctor to a physical therapist because of pain, soreness and numbness in my left leg and foot. Today on my second visit, I received some encouragement - a great reminder - from the Lord through my interaction with the therapist.

Through maneuvering my body and trying to stretch it in various ways, the therapist has revealed to me that certain sets of muscles, especially in my lower back and left leg, are tight and/or weak. My strength and range of motion isn't what it should be. And so the goal is to loosen certain muscles and strengthen other muscles so that I'm in better shape, which will effectively get rid of the pain, soreness and numbness. It has already helped.

Today, while I was lying flat on my back, the therapist told me to rest my leg on her shoulder. Using her own strength, she was going to push my leg up to stretch certain muscles. Well, at first I lifted up my leg onto her shoulder - but I didn't really rest it there. As she pushed, I lifted my leg using my own strength.

She looked at me and said, "Just rest your leg on my shoulder. Let your whole weight drop down on me." The she added with a sarcastic smile, "You're a helper, aren't you?"

Truth is, she didn't need my help. In fact, my "help" was counterproductive to what she was trying to accomplish. My "work" was to rest, and as I rested, she bore the weight and she did the work.

You know where I'm going with all this. So I'll just leave it at that. :)