The image at the bottom of this post is perfect for me this week. I seem to have gotten a bite or a scratch a few weeks ago that just kept festering and getting more sore.
I was watching it, but somewhere along the way, the problem got away from my awareness and created a life of its own. The “problem” for me was that I wasn’t listening to my body, and wasn’t taking my wound seriously until one (Friday) night I showed it to my husband and the alarm bells went off. “You have to go to the emergency room!” Not.
The idea of spending a Friday night in the emergency room for what could have become a systemic infection was truly a wake up call, so I put my thinking cap on, and decided to start doing hot compresses and a heating pad all weekend, which helped.
Well I was able to up-end the potential catastrophe, and it looks like I will live, but not before images of doom danced in front of my eyes. The problem? I simply wasn’t taking it seriously enough, precisely because I could withstand the pain.
Big, big secret is to learn to “lean in” and listen to your body. Specifically listen to what the body is FEELING and needing from you. This goes for the food we eat, the choices we make for our leisure time, and definitely when we are experiencing an acute issue in the body or mind.
I have gratefully had plenty of rich experiences of deep listening to my body, and so it has become normal for me to intuitively know what the next best step for healing is, yet I sometimes still wait. So this begs the question, why exactly do we procrastinate on being proactive with important details about our lives? In other words, why don’t we even notice the elephant in the room?
My best guess is because of the inconvenience it represents. Going to an emergency room would have definitely been an inconvenience. (And yes, I did finally go to my doctor, who assured me it was not an infection after all). It is the same reason why we don’t go get tested for Covid when we get a sore throat. Having Covid would be an inconvenience, but for some, the exposure could mean hospitalization and even death, so why not protect each other and get the test and wear the mask? It doesn’t make sense.
So I leave you with this thought; How much is your life worth to you? Really. And from there, if you knew there were doctors or teachers or coaches or therapists you could go see to truly make your life better, wouldn’t you just want to jump on the opportunity? The short answer is no. We take a lot of time, and maybe make some poor decisions along the way, that take us far away from our goals. So I wish you good health, and good sense in taking care of yourself, in both the big decisions, and the little ones. May we all procrastinate less!
Our 3rd Annual Alexander Technique Sussmit is next week!Completely free, from October 10-15th on ZOOM. Go to this link to sign up:
https://alextechgreaterphila.com/online-alexander-technique-summit/ |
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