Just Dan Grant

About nine or so years ago I went in for a check up at the doctor’s office. Completely normal visit, everything was great, and life was awesome. No reason to fix anything, change anything, and nothing was wrong. Six months later, I went in for another check up (right after my 30th birthday) and things were a little different.

I had 9 months left to live.

Okay, that’s a bit of an exaggeration. It wasn’t anything close to that. But to hear my doctor tell it, I was convinced I was on my way out.

He didn’t like the way my lungs sounded – as an asthmatic this wasn’t a surprise, but apparently they had deteriorated enough that he was concerned. So I got to start a new steroidal inhaler twice a day. He then went on to mention that my asthma could have been affected by my weight, and that I should look to watch my diet and work on some exercise. I told him that was hitting below the belt, but he said that at this point I probably couldn’t see my belt without a mirror. (He didn’t say that but I know he was thinkin it).

I thought I was out of the woods, but then he continued.

He asked me how I thought my cholesterol was doing. I told him that the last I checked, it was fine. He shared the good news with me that it wasn’t fine – not sure how that was good news – but that it could be managed by a pill taken daily. I guess that was the good news. I declined the pill and told him I would just stop eating a BLT for breakfast every morning.

He laughed, I laughed, and then he asked “Wait, are you eating a BLT for breakfast every morning?!”

I miss those BLT’s for breakfast every morning.

The visit was better from there, having narrowly escaped the jaws of death due to middle age, I walked out realizing why some folks fall apart when they hit 30. Next time I hit a significant age, I’m going to avoid the doctor for a year. When I hit 60, I think I will avoid him for a couple of years.

Whether you hate it or not, that health check is necessary.

Side note – if you are a husband, father, or just a dude in general, get yourself checked out. Don’t be that guy that hurts himself and others because he’s too much of a man to take care of himself.

I believe it’s important for all of us to do some inspection and introspection on a regular basis.

So considering where you were a year ago, and where you are now, how are you doing?

Look, we have had a year of it. I wouldn’t say it’s been the hardest year ever – there are some years that have this one beat for sure, but it’s been a contender. Many of us have had to walk through things that we never dreamed we would, and our lives have been reshaped in ways that have tested us.

So how you doin?

How are you physically? What excuses have you made in the past year that have affected your physical heath? It didn’t help that we had a TP shortage, but ice cream and pizza was readily available. Hasn’t helped that the gyms have been shut down, or you have to wear a mask on the treadmill. I know that some people take physical fitness to an extreme, but some take avoiding it to the extreme. Are you hanging tough mentally? For me, there was about nine months that I didn’t have a single news app on my phone or channel set for it on the TV. I blocked and avoided a lot of negative input from social media – from people and otherwise. Mentally, there was enough stress going on in life that I didn’t need to add to it. I have seen anxiety and depression rise in teenagers and adults at an incredible rate. Spiritually, how doeth thou? Has your Target parking lot seen you more faithfully than your church parking lot? Have you developed a greater anticipation for the Amazon driver to show up than the Holy Spirit to? If you had a spiritual check up, would you be on the healthy side or the anemic side? A lot of relationships have been strained over the last year because we haven’t been able to be around those we love and sadly, if we are honest with ourselves, our relationship with God probably felt that strain as well. FaceTime isn’t the same as face to face time, and online worship just isn’t the same as in-person worship.

And keep in mind – just as your physical health can affect the ones you love, your mental and spiritual health can be an encouragement or detriment to them as well. Skipping any of these areas is like going to the gym and missing a muscle group. You can always tell who skips leg day. You can also tell who never misses Taco Tuesday.

At the end of the day, our physical, mental, and spiritual health is worth our attention. Hopefully we can be honest enough with ourself to do a self-check, or ask a friend to provide some accountability. But if we never check, or we never ask, we could find ourselves in a health crisis that could greatly affect our life and the lives of those around us.

So how you doin?