F.E.A.R.

A long time ago I learned an acronym for the word fear: 

F - FALSE

E - EVIDENCE

A - APPEARING 

R - REAL

I'd forgotten it until last night. As I was thinking about my upcoming surgery, I was getting more wigged out. I was playing every possible scenario of how the surgery might go in my head and none of them were good. 

I don't know why my brain defaulted to negative thoughts, but it did. I guess the bottom line was, I was scared. And the fear I felt was exactly what the acronym represented - a fear of the unknown. 

I've heard several people say getting a knee replacement was one of the best decisions they ever made and there have been others who've had extreme complications for serious infections to blood clots. With my health history, I've dealt with unexpected side effects and they're never pleasant. Now that I'm older, a surgical complication would be more difficult to recover from but I'm going to hope for the best. 

False evidence appearing real - fear is powerful, but only if we let it be. 

I prayed about it and asked God to help me overcome the fear, to trust Him to guide the doctor's hands, and to protect me from any complications. My hope is that I'll get through surgery unscathed and then get physical therapy walking better than I am now. 

There's another acronym I learned:

F - FORSAKING 

A - ALL

I - I

T - TRUST

H- HIM

I like that one better.