self-care

70

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Earlier in life, I thought 70 was pretty old. Now that I am 70, I’ve changed my mind on that. The older I get, the younger I feel. When my mother was 70, she looked and acted like my former perception of 70, so I thought that was what was in store for me. I’ve since drastically changed my perception. Now I know that I can have and do anything I want, and I can release everything I know longer need. What does that look like?

When I have faced a few health challenges, I pay attention to them and reflect on what the challenges are trying to teach me. For instance, when I started getting dehydrated, I realized that I needed to drink more water. I know that sounds simple, but I just hadn’t been paying attention to what I was drinking, so when I drank less, I also ate less and started to feel lousy. I saw that there was a simple fix to that, and as I drank more, I started to eat more, and my energy came back, and I feel so much better! This made me remember that taking good care of my self is my priority. Like they say when we fly, put the oxygen mask on yourself first. That’s the only way I will be able to live the life of service that I desire.

Another example was that I was getting so low on energy. I just sat and read or worked on the computer. The longer I sat, the less energy I had. Again, there was an easy cure. I got up! I went to a retreat in the mountains where there was lots of walking in a beautiful space. I visited family who walk everywhere, and I went on beautiful walks with them.  I even went to an Aeriel yoga class. Floating in silk doing Vipassana was a transforming experience! Now I am looking forward to the joy of movement, of walking, of feeling wonderful!

My Ohana, Hawaiian for family, gave me a wonderful celebration in honor of my birthday. I danced all night and loved every moment! That felt so great! I realize the age is just a number. I can choose to feel old. I can choose to feel young. I choose to feel great in every moment and to release any thought or stuff that no longer serve me! My intention in this new decade is to focus on life, on living, on service, and on love! And I encourage you to join me on this journey.

 

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Life is like Water

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Water has been on my mind lately. We’ve had more rain in the last month on Maui than I think we’ve had in the three and a half years I have lived here. Everything is wet, so wet that it’s mushy. If you stand on the grass, you will sink, feeling a little like shallow quicksand.  Yet everything is so beautiful, a verdant green bursting with life. And the water is flowing, like in the ditch on the side of our property where is flows like a stream with water running down from Haleakala’s top where snow is melting.

This is such a stark contrast to where we were living in Ventura before we moved here that everything was so dry with the ongoing drought that we were encouraged to pull out our lawns and replace them with succulents that needed little water, or even cover our front yards with rocks. And with all that dryness came devastating fires. So please don’t think I am complaining about the lovely rain we are having.

I am grateful to live where our water is safe to drink because it is rainwater naturally filtered through underground, porous volcanic rock. So we’re blessed with this pure, clean water. And it is so pure and clean because it keeps moving. When water doesn’t move, where it accumulates in puddles or ponds, it becomes stagnant, it smells, and it can be full of unhealthy elements.

What does all this have to do with grieving? Many times when people grieve, they get stuck. Doing what they need to so they can be healthy is just too hard. They sit and can’t seem to make an effort to get up, to move around or go out for a walk, let alone go to the gym or to participate in a healthy activity. When this happens, they become stagnant. This can lead to lack of energy and health problems, which leads to more to be sad about. And it’s not unusual to not drink enough when they feel this way. This can lead to dehydration, which can show up as bad breath, a sticky mouth, dry skin, fever, and lots more symptoms like urinary tract infections. You may not even realize you are thirsty.

When you are well hydrated, you look better, you feel better, and you are healthier. Just as the comparison between land affected by drought as opposed to where there is plenty of rain, the difference is so obvious. When grieving, self-care is vital, and one of the easiest things you can do to feel better is to get plenty of water to drink, water, not sodas and juice. Have some herbal tea, or squeeze some lemon into a class of ice water. The simplest thing like drinking water can make an amazing difference  in how you feel.

I raise a toast to you of lovely lemon water. Please virtually clink my glass and have a drink of your own!