My friend and fellow writer, Jenny Greenleaf, pointed out in a recent blog post that if you reverse today's date -- 01-02 -- then it's 2010 in reverse! Neat!
I have a new resolution to add to my list of resolutions for this year: Take better care of myself. When I resolved to get back onto the Michael Thurmond diet this year (which I have actually modified to suit my own dietary needs), I thought, Okay, a healthy diet and a resolve to work out should be enough for me.
But, actually, it's not.
Yes, eating a healthy diet is an important part of taking care of yourself. So is getting in that needed physical activity and exercise. But taking care of yourself also means maintenance.
Last night, as I lied in bed agonizing in pain, I started to feel a little anxiety over an upcoming reading for a new book I have coming out. I started to think, how in the world am I going to manage reading from my book in front of an audience if I'm experiencing this terrible dental pain, hip pain, foot pain and back pain? (Yes, I was experiencing ALL of those grievances last night. I had a lousy night!) Then a new thought struck me: This would not be so bad if I had taken better care of myself!
If I had gone to the doctor after I hurt my foot, I would not have the other foot which is aggravated from all the limping adding to my misery!
If I had gotten all of my wisdom teeth pulled, I wouldn't have this dental pain!
If I had gone to the doctor to find out what's wrong with my hip, I might not have the hip pain going on!
My point is, if I tended to my own physical grievances earlier and not neglected them, then they won't get worse. They will get better instead. And isn't that a nice thought? Getting better?
So that experience made me realize that I definitely should pay closer attention to when my body is telling me, "Houston, we have a problem."
I was raised to tough things out. Part of this philosophy is because I was in a family of 7 children and my parents couldn't always afford a trip to the ER or doctor. We had to tough things out a lot. We had to do without a lot, sometimes temporarily until we were publicly embarrassed (I won't go into THOSE details!). Heck, many times, we brushed our teeth with baking soda when we couldn't afford toothpaste! But now I have insurance. Now we're not struggling with money so much. I CAN afford to go to the ER or a doctor! So if something is wrong, that's the thing to do.
Taking care of yourself should be a priority and I know now just how important that priority should be. If something isn't right, make it right IMMEDIATELY. You never know when the time will come when things SHOULD be right, for some occasion or another.
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2 comments:
Thank you for the link-back!
I, too, need to resolve to take better care of myself from now on. I'm making this part of my Vision Board.
You're welcome. :) And that's a great idea! Sometimes, we get so caught up with taking care of others, we often forget about taking care of ourselves, too. Little things are not enough. Sometimes, we need to go that extra mile.
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