Have you ever considered making a change you knew would probably positively and significantly improve your health, and then chose not to do it?
I know I have. Those are moments that became regrets. Those are the illnesses I suffered longer than necessary because I was ignoring the discomfort, hoping it would go away because I was too busy to deal with it. Even though I know better, I actually did that with a headache today.
My head hurt and I took something for it that usually helps immediately. Nothing happened. So instead of lying down and resting, or meditating with it to get a clearer sense about the cause (such as whether it is stress, hormones or sinuses), I kept plowing ahead with work I wanted to accomplish. Finally the headache got the best of me and I laid down to sleep for a while.
When I got up, I kept my activities light and was feeling much better. Recognizing it was probably a combination of hormones and reaction to the pollen in the air, I did some yoga stretches, and immediately felt relief.
Here is was caught up in habits and bit of self-importance (ie. I have so much that needs to be done, I can’t take time out for a headache right now). And I show people to listen to their body/soul wisdom, honor it and act on it. I teach this stuff! Yet, here I was ignoring my own health.
Are you as stubborn as I am? Do you find yourself doing what is normal and familiar, rather than doing what you know you need to do in order to get better?
So today, I asked myself, “Is my writing really so important that taking an hour or even a day off would create a cataclysmic hole in the matrix of the universe so big that humanity would never recover?” Yes, I’m poking fun at myself because I know it will make me laugh and shake the absurdity out of me! Yes, my work is important, but it is not more important than my health, and neither is yours.
Let me ask you, “Are any of your patterns, habits, work, or service more important than your health?” “How about your family? Are their needs more important than your health?” “Is your job and your sense of being needed more important than your health.”
Now ask yourself this, “Are really able to be of your best service to your family or job when you feel awful?”
Tough questions, I know. But how else do we break-through our tendency to do what is familiar? You know the answer. Either we ask ourselves some tough questions and make some changes or we get so sick that we have to make changes.
If you are like me, maybe there are times when you wait until you are feeling desperate before you make change. It occurred to me some time ago that desperate action meant I had missed earlier opportunities to make easier, more loving choices for myself. I decided it was a far more enjoyable journey to act from inspiration rather than desperation.
Sometimes I still wait until I’m a little desperate before I act, like I did in waiting to address my headache. But wouldn’t it have been wiser to act from a little inspiration early on? Wouldn’t it have made sense to listen to my body/soul immediately, and have gotten into a quiet and soothing healing meditation, acting on the insights I received immediately? I could have nipped that headache immediately. I could have enjoyed more of my day.
I hope you will allow my confession to be inspiration for you. Don’t wait until later on to honor your body. Ask a friend or family member to take care of the family for a while. Take time off work or ease up on your goals so that you can focus more energy on your healing. Take advantage of the summer weather. Spend some days away from the chaos and demands of home.
Give yourself time to slow down, reflect and listen to your body. Then have the courage to take the action that you need to take immediately. You deserve to feel better right now.
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Boy, did this one strike a great big gong! I do this one more often than I’d like to admit. It is difficult for me to listen to myself and check out what is going on and see what needs to be done before I really get to hurting. I’m glad to hear that you, too, do some of the same things I do. Sometimes I wonder if those who teach are really as good about watching themselves as they say they are. I’m looking for someone like me, who falls off the horse quite a bit.
Thank you,
Linda
Linda,
Hopefully those of us that teach are getting more honest! Every moment is a new moment in which to learn that which we have not yet learned. What I know is that while I have learned some things, there is a vast unknown I have yet to understand and apply. That seems to be the truth of our human condition. Those of us that are blessed are those of us that are willing to learn and keep getting back up on the horse until some part of ourselves discovery enough mastery to stay on the horse. 😉
Hey there, just stumbled upon your blog through Google, and found it to be really informative. I'm gonna keep an eye on this one. Cheers!
I have actually been thinking on just this….how God first tries to get our attention by a tap on the shoulder, but when that tap is ignored, it becomes something more- in my case, illness.
I do want to comment on the "can you give your best service to others if you don't take care of your self?" That still says to me, take time for your healing, because it's of benefit to others. Seemingly, the only way I can rationalize self care, is if it's really about caring for others?
On this journey of healing, when it appears so much of it [for me] comes from always putting others first, I need to learn the importance of loving me as God loves me. I don't think She loves me for what I do. I think She loves me for Who I Am.
And since you and I are One, I close with…
Namaste.
I believe you are addressing an aspect of self-healing is that is very challenging for many of us to simply accept—that we may need to find our healing compassion through loving others as a step toward greater ability to love ourselves. You said it well, we are one, so it seems to me that anyplace we can begin engaging our compassion and care; whether focused on another or ourselves; we are engaging the energy. I personally believe that if we are caring for others, one of the keys to experiencing the healing of the Oneness is to feel what we are giving. We must feel the compassion as we give care in order to benefit from it ourselves. Once the compassion is deeply felt, we naturally want to be more compassionate with others AND ourselves because it just plain feels good. Namaste Annie