Live Life To The Fullest
Don’t let life stop you from dreaming
Restore your lust for life!
I’m sure all of you have seen the commercials on television for World Vision and other organizations showing children with leprosy and other diseases. These advertisements appeal to viewers and tell them that for just pennies a day, these children can have access to the medication needed to cure their ailment. I often wonder: If that’s true, why doesn’t the government in that country just spend the money to wipe out the disease once and for all? Once a cure for polio was found, the disease was pretty much eliminated. And how often do we hear about people getting scurvy anymore?
How about schizophrenia and other mental illnesses? Do we see a cure in the near future?
About 15 years ago, I went to a presentation on schizophrenia. A researcher was among the speakers, and he talked about his research with mice and the great progress he was making. Someone in the audience asked how soon he (the researcher) thought it would be before a cure for schizophrenia was found, and he actually estimated five years. I remember scowling at his response. This person was not doing anyone any favors by saying such a thing. Even I knew the science just wasn’t there. I was tempted to get up and scold him for saying such a thing. Don’t get me wrong—I wish there was a cure and some kind of prevention; I have three children who each have a 10-percent chance of developing schizophrenia and a 20-percent chance of developing mental illness. People often show up on my doorstep to talk to me about their pain and suffering and the havoc that mental illness has wreaked in their life. Just this past Sunday, a woman approached me after church to tell me that her son had just been admitted into the hospital and she was seeking my advice. Of course I would have loved to tell her to wait a month or two and a cure will be there, but I know that that is just not practical.
That being said, there is no reason you can’t live a very fulfilling life just because there is no cure (yet) for many mental illnesses. There is no cure for cancer, kidney disease or multiple sclerosis, either, but we can still have a rewarding, full life with the cards we are dealt.
One of the reasons that I am successful is because I have learned to be thankful, and to develop my attitude and faith to a point where my life has meaning and fulfillment outside of a cure. Yes, a cure would be beyond amazing, but I am living my life now not waiting for the researcher and the mouse. It’s like the old adage goes: When life hands you lemons, make lemonade.
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