What I Learned From 27

What I Learned From 27

I learned to count from going to physical therapy (PT).  To be honest, I probably knew how to count in first grade. Only I never did figure out if the space the Monopoly horse sat on was one or if the space after it counted as one. 

Anyhow, at PT we count all the time. Our therapist says, “Do three sets of ten,” and then you begin to lift weights or bend and stretch or whatever she has recommended. You do this a total of thirty times—three sets of ten. 

I have had a bad shoulder and hip and back, (do I sound like a 57 year old woman or what?!) and all three times my PT has corrected the problem and made me even stronger.  

I know it works. I can count to thirty.  But, do you know, every time I get to 27 I want to quit. I hate being almost there. I don’t know why 27, 28, 29, 30 seem so hard. Sometimes I count to ten three times or backwards from thirty. I hate 27. 

I think it is like my life. I want to quit when I am almost there. If I knew how close I was to the character change God and I are working on I would keep going. If I knew how close the chapter was to being beautiful I would keep wordsmithing.  If I knew how close the woman I am counseling is to getting what I’m saying then I would keep going. I want to quit too soon.  

But I have learned in PT that if I keep going to the end I get good results. I get stronger and people think I’m losing weight! (hah!) So I try not to hate 27. It’s almost there. I usually find I can do three more.