This journey in life has taught me many things. And one of the biggest things is that our bodies are one of our biggest assets we are gifted as a human being. Yet we are taught so little about our bodies. What a wonderful world we could help create if we helped our “littles”, our kindergarten classes and all young children, to understand what a marvelous creation our bodies are for us. At their level of understanding of course. And to begin to help them understand as they grow up only they can truly take care of this fantastic vehicle that assists each of us to navigate our life.

Ironically it took an illness called tongue cancer to help me realize our bodies speak to us. They really do. Only we have to be the ones to listen. How many times over the past years have I pushed my body so hard and then I wondered why I was so tired? But that is our society’s normal expectations. I was taught that well and jumped into that circus of do, do, do, and for God’s sake don’t stop. I became addicted to that hormone adrenaline secreted by the adrenal glands. And like many things, too much of something does not serve us.

Yesterday I was diagnosed with shingles which causes a skin rash and internal pain under and around that area. The varicella-zoster, or chickenpox virus, is the culprit, which lies dormant in all of us. The most common activator of shingles is stress and lack of good sleep. So once again my body is talking to me. I am fortunate to have my medical background and quickly called my Absolutely-the Best Nurse Practitioner, Carla Copas, for medicine to help stop this virus. The earlier shingles is treated the better. This is very important to know and remember.

I can be clueless at times how much internal stress I am taking on in my own life. Sure, I can have that typical back pain between my shoulder blades, which is common for many of us when we are stressed. That is when I should stop and think; “Hey! What’s got you wound up, Joan?”. But do I do that? Rarely. I try to literally shrug it off my shoulders and choose not to deal with it. Am I willing to do better? Yes, because my body is telling me I have not been taking good care of myself lately. I have the power to become more aware of my thoughts and my habits.

I also have a history of co-dependency. The definition of co-dependency from Google is as follows: a person with poor boundaries, and a compulsion to care for/enable another person, often sacrificing their own self care. Believe me, I know this definition. I attended Al-anon, a twelve step program for families of alcoholics, for twenty-six years. This program’s teachings and principles literally saved my life in many ways. And I am still an avid student on any type of personal growth. Yet sometimes I forget, or pack pedal, and internalize too deeply my families and friends own personal challenges. I want to help “fix things”. Just like everyone else, I think I know what is “best”. Then I continue to slide down that slippery slope. I forget that the best thing I can do for everyone involved is to get out of the way and to remember each of us has our own sacred journey with a Higher Power of our own understanding. It really all comes down to one word: trust. I really do trust Life. I totally believe Life has my back. It’s a marvelous gift to come to this understanding. But if I don’t get out of way of my families and friends, then how do I expect them to be able to discover this for themselves?

I had a dream years ago I was flying in a blue, blue sky with a gorgeous Peregrine Falcon! Flying with this body! So I am listening to you, Body. I thank you for helping me to once again get back on track. I am healing more everyday physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I want to fly even higher than ever before. I want everyone to fly! But that’s a choice each of us must make for ourselves. Thanks for the reminder!

c   Love, Joan