"Easy" Doesn't Always mean Better

I heard these words yesterday while at a doctor's appointment with a family member. As the doctor shared about the upcoming journey for health, she shared how "taking medication is easy, but isn't always better". Two hours of information in and this is one aspect that sticks with me, "easy isn't always better". I think this is a lesson for life in general, not when it pertains to certain health and medical issues.

In today's fast paced and mobile society, everyone is looking for (and hoping for) the quick fix. If you ask your elders, they'll tell you "Back in the day..." or "When I was a kid...". We need to stop ignoring these words of wisdom to STOP AND LISTEN.

Remember these three things:
1) Life is NOT EASY nor will it be
2) There are NO QUICK FIXES
3) Easy isn't always better, it's just faster

Why do I share this life lesson with you?

God used it to remind me, although I want my sweet relative healed "right now"...this hasn't and isn't happening BUT God IS in control and He shined brightly yesterday. He reminded me how much He loves us and provides for us.

"Easy isn't better". The past few years haven't be "easy" as we visit multiple doctors with little answers or hope. The waiting for diagnosis or something to ease the pain hasn't been easy for her, or those who love her. Some medications have worked temporarily, then wear off. They were an easy and quick fix, but not the answer.

The weeks ahead will be a challenge and as one doctor said, "It's going to get worse before it gets better, but know better is coming." I needed to hear this today, and so did she. It encouraged us all and we welcome the necessary changes, modifications, and plan of action. Change is always bad, sometimes it's just necessary.

Another way her words encouraged me was in an area I have touched on but not shared completely. We all have an issue or prayer need like this, one we may not confide to anyone but God knows. Choices we made in the past might have been easy but they didn't make things better. 

After Heidi's disappearance, I made two mistakes and easy roads, or so I thought at the time, to console myself. A confession you may not know: I used credit card shopping as my grief counseling. A debt, sin, and  now public confession. This was easy and made me feel better in the moment yet nearly twenty years later, as we still pay the loan taken to consolidate this debt in hopes of paying it off sooner,  is a constant reminder...it wasn't better. It just prolonged the process. I didn't heal through shopping, if anything ~ it's a monthly reminder of where I've failed.

One that was visible to anyone who knew me "before" Heidi disappeared: I used over eating to console myself. I gained twenty pounds in the month following her kidnapping. Twenty extra pounds that still "weigh" on me (pun intended, lol). This past August I made a goal to get healthy, My first goal is to be under 200lbs, which according to my doctor's scales - I have but not the one at home so I still have a couple to go. My next mini-weight-loss-goal is 180. This is the weight I ballooned to by overeating, drinking too much soda, and not doing any physical activity. The final mini-goal, to lose the twenty pounds of grief weight. It was easy to eat when I was sad, but it wasn't better for my health or my jeans.

It's not easy to do what's right. It's not easy to say no BUT in the long run...IT IS WORTH IT!!

Easy isn't better, it's just slows down the process. At least this is my idea and lesson learned. You might not agree, it's just a thought and the way God used encouragement for a medial journey we'll take with a loved one ~ to encourage me in life.

---

What do you think, "Is easy better?" Why or why not?