I still rise gently and begin my day quietly with reflection, a bit of reading, Bay gazing. But something is noticeably missing. It's my beloved coffee.
I've been a coffee aficionado for years. I relish good coffee, heavily laced with real cream. Having my doubts about the healthiness of drinking it though, I made sure mine was organic. The cream too. I really love coffee. (Did I emphasize that enough?)
But now it's gone. Removed from my life. Maybe forever.
Dairy too.
Moan ...
I'm trying my best to live without it because I have to. My body was beginning to whimper when I did drink it. And soon it began to ache; to well up in agony from the partaking of it. Pain demanded that I stop.
Gallbladder.
Ouch. Big ouch!
After 3 gut-wrenching attacks (literally), I finally listened to my sage body which was trying so very hard to let me know that the foods I was eating—and what I was drinking—was not helping, but hurting.
Throughout my life, time and again, my body's wisdom has risen up to do this, to scream, "Stop!"
"Stop pushing me." "Stop rushing." "Stop stressing." "Stop IT," whatever the IT was because it knew, inherently, that what I was doing was not good for me.
Our body knows. It does. It has a unique wisdom all its own which can tell us—even before something horrible happens—that we must take heed and honor it's call. But do we?
Some of us are very tough cookies and we are certain we can push through or ignore the signs of physical distress. After all, how we can we really afford to STOP? There is always so much to do; so many deadlines to meet; so many chores, errands, responsibilities!
But body wisdom wins out ever time, despite our resistance.
For me, it took 3 attacks to get the message. No more coffee. No more heavy fats. No fried foods. No sugar or chocolate.
My nun-like existence has now taken on the flavor of "ascetic."
Don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining. Well, just a little. I know I will be better for these choices in the long run.
Which brings me to this. If I am to continue to embody my truest self, I have to recommit to the 2nd Transformational Truth: I Trust My Body's Divine Connection.
I took this Truth as my own many years ago, but as life changes (as we change), it's prudent to recalibrate oneself. To listen up. To make healthy new lifestyle choices depending on what our body is trying to say.
So I am.
What's your body been telling YOU lately? Has your inner wisdom been trying to get your attention? Does your beautiful body need doses of kindness—dietary changes, exercise, or pampering? Does it need to slow down, to rest and restore itself?
I hope you will listen up too so that your divinely sourced body is well-served.
I'd love to serve up a steaming hot cup of coffee for myself right now as the snow falls heavy and white outside. I just know it would warm me—body and mind.
But it wouldn't warm my soul. It would negate Inner Wisdom. Staying true to this new path laid out by Her is more important. I'd rather embody a Truth than deny it.
But oh, is it tempting!
Something opens our wings. Something makes boredom and hurt disappear.
Someone fills the cup in front of us: We taste only sacredness.
~Rumi
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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6 comments:
I sure hope my body is not friends with yours. Who knows what kinds of things they'd whisper. Next thing I know, my body might be saying to me, "Did you know coffee is not good for Jan? You'd better take heed, it might not be good for yours either."
Ha, Cheryl! Tea is not so bad. :-) I am getting used to it! Though I think it was not the coffee so much as the far too generous portions of cream. :-) xo Enjoy YOURS!
Very thought-inspiring post, Jan! I like the message of listening to our wise bodies and of recalibrating as needed. I, too, love coffee, just a dab of cane sugar (not beet, which is GMO) and a bit of half-and-half to gentle it. Mostly I love coffee because it connects me with my dad and those early mornings before he'd go to work and I'd sit with him, dunking my mom's homemade donut into his coffee.
My body yells STOP, too, when I'm in danger of a fibromyalgia flare-up. I've learned that sensory overload results in a week of pain and stiffness, so I avoid large gatherings when possible. Last weekend, though, I couldn't (two family gatherings)and knew I'd pay the price and I sure did. But yoga this morning helped ease the pain and stiffness. I'm back to my quiet, gentle life right now, loving the peace it brings to body and soul.
I truly believe in listening to my body and love falling in love with it. I also believe sometimes ...it is our stressful lives, feelings of overwhelm, our lack of finding time for pleasure and doing some things we love... loving ourselves fully, including our bodies ..which sometimes cause the problems which we blame on the foods we eat. We have so conditioned ourselves to look outside for the answers while we tell ourselves the answers lie inside. Some teachers tell me if I truly would love myself fully and fully love what I am eating, then I could eat anything and it would still nourish my body, because it can transmute anything into the love which it truly is to begin with. Much Love and thanks for sharing
I too am now a coffee lover who has converted to tea drinking. Kukicha twig tea is lovely and very low in caffeine:-) Glad you are listening to your body's wisdom Jan. Listen, listen, listen for the whispers...sometimes they are SHOUTS! I hope you are feeling better, day by day.
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