Up With The Good. Down With The Bad.

For almost 15 years, this has been my mantra: up with the good, down with the bad. It's how my physical therapist taught me to approach stairs during the rehab following my broken ankle.

For all these post-broken-and-now-fused-ankle years, this mantra served me well.

Until it didn't .

In the three years since my knee replacement surgery, this mantra has become a source of confusion.

You see, I broke my left ankle, and I had my right knee replaced.

For these almost 15 years, the left side was the bad side. At least it was the bad side until the right knee became such a problem. Then there really wasn't a good side. And now, post-knee-replacement, the left side has become the good side - in theory at least - and the right side, which used to be the good side, is now the bad side. 

You see my dilemma. It's all backwards.

Now I have to stop and think. What had become a habit of life is no longer quite the same. I can't function on auto-pilot anymore! 

But thinking is really a good thing. And not just when it comes to remembering which is the good side. When I'm going out the front door, which foot goes first? I have to stop and think. Which side is working better today? When I come back home and have to go up the steps to the front door, which foot goes first? I have to stop and think.

Up with the good, down with the bad. Stop and think. Which one is the good?

It's a good way to remember how to approach stairs if you have orthopedic issues. But it's a good thing to remember for life in general.

Think about it that way for a minute. Up with the good. Down with the bad.

Apply that principle to the things you read. Whether books or magazines or social media.

Apply that principle to things you watch. Whether on television or at the movie theater or on social media.

Apply that principle to things you listen to. Whether radio or television or social media or even conversations.

Don't go through life on auto-pilot. Don't blindly follow the crowd. Stop and think.

Up with the good.

Down with the bad.

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."  (Philippians 4:8 ESV, emphasis mine)