Reality Check

Last night we did our Cardio workout, 45 minutes of some intense yoga, plyometics and kick-boxing. Josh and I laugh that it's the "shortest and easiest" workout of the entire program. The whole time I'm kicking and sword-jabbing in our living room, there is only one thing on my mind:


My mom. 

I won't go into all the details about how freakin' awesome my mom is, but she's pretty much the best person on the planet. I'm worried because she can't move. Things like bending over to get in the cupboard or pushing yourself off from the ground after kneeling is painful and almost impossible. She's been to a dozen doctors, had two thousand blood tests and the answer is always the same: normal. But it's not normal. She's 56 years old and can barely get out of bed because she is in so much pain. She stretches for an hour every morning trying to loosen things up but nothing helps.


And today she called me after another doctor told her all the tests came back negative. We've tried everything from Lyme's disease to Lupus and still, nothing shows up. So as I write about training and working my body to its limits, my mom can barely walk up and down the stairs. I'm to the point of tears because I can't do anything. I've searched WebMd, Mayo clinic and random internet chat sites hoping to stumble on a cure or something that would help her.


I don't want this post to be a huge downer for people. But I also want to be honest about what's going on, and life isn't always humorous. Today was a reality check for me. That our bodies are not guaranteed to work for an eternity. We need to take care of them now so they can take care of us later.


So if you believe in prayer, or meditation or throwing pennies into murky water at the mall to make a wish come true, one of those gestures for my mom would mean a lot to me. For now, I'm going to keep up my routine and (childishly) hope that some of my new strength finds its way to my mother.