Reptiles, cats, dogs, and all sorts of other living things are extremely good at hiding health problems. They can and will do so most times up until a point in which the issue is beginning to get a little out of hand. Unless we are quite observant we are not able to notice these things until they’ve tumbled into a more pressing matter. We experience issues ourselves from time to time and we’d like to believe that we always exist in a state of complete awareness about the status of our own health. Unfortunately this is not always the case.
It is likely that you’ve heard of a man or woman whom upon visiting the doctor found that they’ve a quite serious complication, sometimes life threatening, that they’d had no prior knowledge of. Sometimes even up until the very day of the visit they felt fairly well. While scenarios like this are surely a factor at hand there are always smaller pieces to a puzzle. For instance, throughout our every day life we are naturally subjected to stressors. This stress is can be deposited into our muscles in the form of tension. Most times we are not even aware of its existence until we take a moment to unwind. Have you had a long day?
Go ahead and give this a try. Breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth naturally, take a few minutes and allow your shoulders to decompress and relax. Did you find any pent up tension there? What about in your jaw? How about your facial expression? We may have found that we indeed had a bit of pent up tension that we were unaware of. This surely proves that we can be harboring less than desirable things without even knowing it.
Our cars flash warning lights at us when something is amiss. These lights don’t necessarily have to indicate disaster, it could be that our oil simply requires a service. If this is the case we naturally tend to what we must. Our bodies will sometimes ‘flash warning lights’ at us, but most times we don’t really want to wait until we’ve been given a sign when it comes to our health. We brush our teeth to prevent unwanted decay and tooth loss, and we mow our lawns to prevent unsightly growth. Just think of all of the things we might find ourselves doing throughout our time here that relate to maintenance.
Are we taking care of ourselves in the same way? When was the last time you took a relaxing warm bath to get away from the noise of life? What about the last time you stretched your muscles to maintain their flexibility or overall well being? You would be surprised how much good that can do you. It is up to no one but ourselves to engage in such routine maintenance for our bodies and minds but the dividends paid out are endless. It could ultimately sometimes mean the difference between life and death in the long run. Well, what are you waiting for?
I wish for you success, growth, and happiness. Take care!
Jordan Hutchison 