Health has very different levels of significance in people’s lives!!! You may know, or be one of those people who take their health for granted. They can eat just about anything. If they’re my age (approaching the far shores of middle age), they may have some annoying, potentially serious condition that just hasn’t gotten that bad yet – perhaps a little arthritis in their hands. It doesn’t occur to them to do anything more about it than take a pain reliever when they’ve been in the garden too long.
There are those, me amongst them, for whom health has been a daily topic for so long, they can’t begin to take it for granted. Waking each morning, one of the unknown’s faced is how will this body be today? It’s right there, first thing.
Amongst this group, some of them are proactive; they pay attention to what they put in their bodies and how it effects areas of concern. They’re not satisfied with taking something that will remove the symptoms; they want to get to what’s driving the bus.
There are people who say, “You’re health is the most important thing you have.” I don’t know that I’m right, but I assume they haven’t had the experience of misplacing their health for a protracted period of time – say decades. My experience with health that’s been much less than reliable for a long time is that health is not the most important thing in life. People are, how I effect people, how I respond to what comes my way. These are the most important things in life. Health is a highly desirable thing I hope to find (even at this late stage), but I know it’s not essential to living my life fully.
The bottom line is – the vast majority of us have some sort of major monkey wrench in our lives that takes us to the edge of our limits, where many of us learn to stretch. This is where we learn that our response to what arises is far more important than what arises, if we’re paying attention. My major monkey wrench is my health, I actually have others – yes for those of you who are walking around with more than one monkey wrench in the works, you are not alone.
Being in the group I’m in, having misplaced my health, being as proactive to find it as I can, and added to that, being in the healing arts there’s a hazard I run into. I’m kind of in the solution business – personally and professionally. That’s great, but sometimes, I want to help people who aren’t aware they need help, or don’t want it.
I’ve come to know that things can be improved and I don’t like to see people suffering with something that seems unnecessary to me. I believe that 12-Step slogan – ‘There is no situation so bad that it cannot be improved.’ I also trust the wisdom of – ‘Stay on your own side of the street!’ Truth be told, someone else’s health is none of my business, unless they invite me in. Yet, healing is my business and I need to promote it. Does anyone out there get this conundrum? It’s another place the question of how I respond to what’s up is more important than what’s up.
There was a time when healers didn’t need to promote themselves. They were recognized as having talents that were needed in the tribe. They were sought out when help was wanted and they were provided for. The medicine woman didn’t have a fee scale, an advertising budget or to seek ways to make people aware that her help was available.
I think there might be something out of whack in our society, and that I’ve touched on only one thing that’s a wee bit catawampus. What do you think?
