Hulk's Knees

    The other day, I was watching a  biography on Hulk Hogan.  A hero of the 80’s to many kids (myself included) and a world class entertainer.  He worked and drove his body to the limit night in and night out.  For 30 years he has been a standard of American pop culture and an idol of many children.
    As the program evolved, Hulk told the story of his broken and beaten body.  How his neck and back, knees and joints ache with severe pain.  And at one point in the show, he said that every morning, as he goes to get out of bed that he routinely moans, “My f’ing knees” as he tries to limp out  of bed each morning.  He then goes on to mention how his current fiancée scolded him when she heard this, saying “The first word out of your mouth in the morning should be a word of thanks, not a complaint.”  I got to thinking about this and thought that she made a lot of sense.  
    Everyday millions of Americans roll out of bed with a complaint.  “I hate my job.  My back hurts.  I slept like crap last night.  The stupid pets have to get fed, etc..”  And that’s OK, because we are human.  We are not perfect, in fact we are the furthest thing from.  We are complainers; it’s what we do and we are good at it!  Think about it.  How often do we meet up with family and friends to complain?  I bet we complain five times more frequently then we are thankful.  And who can blame us?  With all that goes on in the world, all you have to do it turn on the news for one segment and you hear enough bad news to make you sick.  Plus, we are imperfect beings.  We are sinners.  We are predisposed to see the negatives in life.
    So here is what I propose.  Why can’t we make a valid attempt to be thankful?  For just four minutes a day, lets give thanks to God for life.  How about the first two minutes in the morning and the last two minutes before you fall asleep.  Lets thank God for something…anything.  Be thankful for the fact that you actually woke up.  That you were given another chance to make a difference.  To be a positive influence on someone, to smile one more time, or you can even be thankful that you have one more day to complain.  I don’t know, anything that crosses your mind.  And at night, as you crawl into bed, take two minutes to be thankful for that day you just had.  Thank God for making it one more day and for that chance to be the person that God created you to be.  Life is a special gift that we all take for granted and I think that we could all benefit by taking those four minutes to be thankful.  Look at it this way, you’ll still have 23 hours and 56 minutes to complain the rest of the day.  
    Give this mission a try and good luck.  While it seem simple to achieve, it won’t be easy.  But maybe, just maybe by giving thanks first thing in the morning and lastly at night, we may begin to see the good in our life as opposed to the negative.      And isn’t that the whole idea behind “On Track Daily?”  To make a small change and have a large effect.  It can happen, you just have to do it.
.:BM