TIP OF THE WEEK
Most people are aware that living healthy isn't just about one aspect of health - it involves nutrition, exercise, time with loved ones, reducing stress, and more.
In each article I will try to share with you something I like to do that helps me
move toward a healthier lifestyle.
Join me if you like!
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MARCH 2010, WEEK ONE: (See below for archived Tip articles).
It might be slightly ironic that I wrote about dealing with failures last month, and then my computer crashed and I was without it for a month. And on top of that, about halfway through February, I came down with "exhaustion". Yes, that Hollywood illness that we scoff at when celebs use it as an excuse to cancel a show or interview or appointment. It actually exists. And I had it. Basically, its your body saying "enough!". And then it fails you.
So after writing about failures being catapults into new direction and positive change, I found myself with a sense of failure and feeling like my own body was failing me. But then, I realized, maybe its time to take some of my own advice and make more time for exercise and meditation and the things that make me happy and recharged.
This month, I am cutting back on commitments. I am making time for a nap on my day off. I am breathing deeper and slower. I am realizing the power of no, and how that increases the potency of yes.
I will be sharing with you an article this week that I wrote last month about my time volunteering at a Cancer Wellness Center. I am also launching and initiating a partnership between myself and Mesothelioma.com, a website dedicated to educating people about this form of cancer, and ways of treating it. Contrary to what some have believed in the past, massage is very beneficial for those dealing with cancer, and I enjoy volunteering my time in that capacity. Please enjoy the article and click on the link below to visit the mesothelioma website.
I have been affected by cancer. Unfortunately that is a statement that most Americans today can make. And the numbers are growing. I was only 27 years old when my doctor said to me, “The thing is, it looks like cancer.” I will never forget that moment as long as I live. But I do live, and that is the important thing. I was 31 years old when similar words were uttered to my grandmother. And so the disease has affected my life more than once.
Because of this, I volunteer my time helping others who have been touched by cancer – whether it has been in their own lives or the lives of someone they love. I spent a day administering massage to people battling cancer, and some caregivers. I could spend an entire day working on everyday people and wake up the next day to do it again, but working on cancer patients exhausts me in a way I cannot even begin to explain. I want to be there, and at the same time I want to run away. I have come to help people, and at the same time, I have come to face the demon that robbed me of something so precious. My presence is meant to be a healing one, and I absorb what each one brings to the table. So much joy, unbelievable joy, and yet sadness. Defeat, and yet defiance. And victory too sometimes. I am not a counselor, I am only there to listen. Some want to tell their story, perhaps it helps them to share it again, or perhaps it is nice to know they are in a place where someone cares. Others would rather talk about anything other than cancer. We talk dogs and cats, we talk travel and food, we talk weather and road conditions.
When my day is done, I find myself packing quickly. My supervisor comes to find me, “How are you doing?” she asks. I open my mouth, but no words come out. I have no answer. I don’t know how I am doing. I will have to let the interactions of the day sink in and process before I can tell anyone how I am doing. An amazing day, and yet spent facing one of the ugliest things man has ever known. Being able to touch each of these people, spending time with them, and becoming, if even for a brief split in time, a positive part of their story, is an incredible privilege that I do not hold lightly. But at the same time, I have just spent an entire day facing cancer. Over and over again, facing the thing that halted my life for a time, the thing that took my Grandmother from my arms here on earth. I faced the fear in the woman who had just found out that morning her vocal cord cancer had returned, and she wasn’t sure if they would be able to save her voice this time. I faced the mother who spends every single day caring for her 16-year-old son with leukemia, trying to make sure he still lives some kind of regular life in the midst of his treatments. I faced the woman who joked about losing her breast, and the woman who didn’t want to speak about anything at all. There is a tragic beauty wrapped up in this day, and the paradox does not escape me. What am I feeling? Intensity. Fragility. Resiliency. Fear. Strength. Weakness. Joy. Hopelessness. Peace. Acceptance. Camaraderie. And Love.
I will do it all over again next month.
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CHALLENGE: Someone once told me, "If you aren't giving back, then all you do in life is take." Find your own way to give back in an area that you are passionate about.
