I am cold and the temperatures outside are only serving to accentuate that fact.

Over the last few months I’ve dropped about 15 pounds. I’ve written a few posts describing the things I’ve done to lose this weight (you can read about them here and here).

I didn’t even set out to lose any weight, but rather to try to figure out what was causing my muscle issues when I played hockey.

The outcome of that experiment is that I’m not having muscle pain, I’ve lost some weight and the huge benefit is I feel great.

The downside to all this is that now I’m always freezing. I’m having a hard time keeping warm.

I will often wear my coat at work, and at home I immediately put on a sweatshirt. If I’m watching TV, I’ve probably got a blanket over me.

It’s frosty in my house. I’ve even thought of getting one of those TV blankets that has sleeves so that I’m actually wearing the blanket.

Well, not really; I wouldn’t get one of those things – that’s crazy! … well, unless they had a leopard patterned one … just kidding.

What’s making this worse is the temperatures outside. It’s halfway through March and suddenly we’re experiencing the longest cold snap of the winter.

I was hoping it would be getting warmer by now. But spring – really just spring weather – can’t come soon enough for me.

There is a senior man from my church who I visit fairly regularly who can’t get out to church. He’s always cold as well. He wears long johns in the summer … I’m feeling his pain right now.

I sure hope I level out by the summer time. I don’t think wearing long johns with shorts is that good a look … but I’m not a fashion guru.

These days when I shake people’s hands, I’m hoping that the warmth of their hands will transfer to mine and take some of the chill away.

Back in the fall when we bought a new vehicle, the only option my wife, Lily, really cared about getting was heated seats.

We had them added, but only for her sake.

Now I wish we had a remote for the heated seats so I could fire them up before I got into the car. At this point, if it isn’t instant heat, it’s not good enough for me.

In a couple of hours from now, I’m going to play hockey – more cold. I’m going to have to skate extra hard just to generate enough body temperature to combat the sub-freezing conditions of the arena.

Fortunately, my muscles are working well now, so I can go all out and skate hard.

I guess with every good thing there is something that’s not so good. But the way I feel right now, I will put up with being cold all the time. It’s worth it.

Here’s the thing: There are some things in life that we put up with, but are those things worth it? Are there things in your life that are destructive, harmful, negative, sinful that you just put up with? It’s time to take an inventory of the things we put up with; keep those things that are worth it and cut out the things that drag us down.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you put up with that’s worth it? Why? Leave your comments below.