Finding the bold to take care of ourselves helps us find new meaning in our daily lives. The simple truth I found is even if I am on the right track; I can get run over if I just sit there so doing something everyday for my own enhancement will move me along! Perhaps it is the same for you? I urge you to consider it!
Let me remind you that the only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth and, sisters, plenty of us spend too much time in ruts! I knew I had to slow down and start doing for myself the day I stopped to think and forgot to start again.
I decided it was time for me to rise up. It was my time.
I needed to *do* less but *be* more. Do less stretching of my time and my patience. Be more present, be more caring of my needs and focus on what I really wanted. And, I found this works.
That’s how I quit smoking cigarettes almost six years ago! I quit smoking cigarettes after I started to put myself first and started to live like what I wanted matters. (And that was after smoking for more than 30 years!)
Focusing on what is best for me made some people sit up and notice but I didn’t get much negative feedback. I stopped dithering about what I wanted in my life and began to make choices that reflected my deepest desires, my most important values. I gave up lying after I realized that I had developed the habit of not telling the truth because I did not want people to think less of me, get angry with me, or mark me off their list based on whatever answer was true. It was a little scarey but I began to feel so much better about myself and my life choices!
Another thing I gave up was gossip. I just never was good at it and it always made me feel ashamed. I was never one to snicker or wink at mean-ness cloaked as information sharing--I was the one who had trouble sleeping later that night! Now, my refusal to gossip does make me an *odd* person out in some circles particularly among colleagues or other members of the same group I am a part of! I never had a lot of girlfriends as a girl so I never practiced the mean-girl behaviors or language (which is what I have learned is what some social scientists call this form of group bonding) so I never learned how to do it.
The fact that I do *not* gossip has cost me some relationships. I am suspect because I don't join in on what others might consider just having fun.
But, on the whole, the fallout from my deciding to *be* who I want to be as opposed to being what others *need* be to be has not cost me as much as I first thought it would. Those who have marked me off their list? I was never high on that list to begin with. And, the people and things I have made more time and space for in my life? Have been well worth the exchange!
And all of this happened because one day I asked myself what it was I truly wanted! One day my response was: I do not want to smoke cigarettes. Another time the answer was: I do not want to have to lie. As a result, I am actually (finally) getting to know *who* I am and what I am *really* like.
I lost some weight, too… because the one thing I truly want to do is live and live healthy… I am not talking lots of pounds disappearing but the ten that have gone have helped me imensely! Maybe I am finding the boldness to take care of myself. Maybe this will help me be open to more of my own healing? I will probably always have girth because I love good eating but I garden and stay active.
I still struggle with this idea of putting myself first even though it makes perfect sense and even though I have reaped some benefits from it. It’s like when you fly and the flight attendant’s instructions are clear: put your own mask on before trying to help someone else put on their mask. If we all try to help someone else first, the flight attendant would have an airplane full of passed out people!
I know I am more important than my house, car, pet, or yard but I also know that I have put more energy and imagination into taking care of these things than I have in taking care of myself. Acting boldly on my faith sometimes means I put yourself first.
I know we each have a history and like all histories, not everything is *sunshiny* or squeaky clean… This may mean we have to act boldly on our faith and give to God any negative teaching we have received about our bodies or any part of our bodies being dirty. Now anything can *get* dirty but no part *is* dirty. It may also mean that we have to act boldly on our faith and give to God any memories of negative touches we have suffered.
Touching can be healing wisdom sent by God’s love! So, touch and be touched…get a massage, learn how to give a massage, volunteer to rock babies or wheel patients at your local hospital, enroll in a ballroom dance class, become a gentle hugger…
Healing wisdom resides in our bodies through touching and being touched. I encourage you to act boldly in your faith and start doing something new for yourself! Start today! You have no time to waste! I mean it, in just two days, tomorrow will be yesterday.
