When I first started on this article, I was focusing on questioning two contradictory ideas – like attracts like, or do opposites really attract? However, as I continued to write, the idea of self-care took over, and inspired by my energy healing workshop in February, I decided to share more on the type of chiropractic care I practice.
Over the last 24 years, I have been trying to describe and explain what it is that I do. My practice is energy healing in nature, although it’s very hard to describe and quantify. I am interested in assisting those that are focused on learning how to heal themselves and being empowered, hence my constant striving to simplify the healing process and communicating how increased awareness is the key to resolving aches, symptoms, and achieving a greater state of wholeness and wellness. To enhance your awareness, it takes a sincere desire to choose how you want to experience life.
Self-care is one of the key components needed to achieve vibrant health, but it requires being selfish at times and choosing yourself over others. If you don’t put yourself first, how can you really help someone else in the long run? This is not to be confused with being uncaring of others.
I have heard and observed over the years how a caretaker usually ends up declining faster than the one who is being taken care of. Oftentimes the caretaker takes on the burden of making all the critical decisions, handling the finances, organizing the health care appointments, dietary choices, on top of their own daily responsibilities. Is it really a surprise they start declining? The one interesting thing to note is the individual who usually doesn’t take care of their health and constitution are the ones that end up being taken care of, while the individual who invests time and resources to stay healthy, becomes the caretaker. Is this really fair? I am not being callous to those who suffer from a challenging health crisis such as cancer or a stroke. I have often wondered what the true, underlying purpose of this phenomenon is about.
Side note: Even our current health insurance system is under attack with premium rates inching higher each year. The fact of the matter is, the healthy people who don’t use their health insurance coverage are the ones who actually pay for the ones who haven’t taken care of themselves, and are using their health insurance to cover all the exorbitant medical expenses. Throw in Obamacare with the “need for medical necessity,” so many health care services have slowly been eliminated, not covered by insurance, or it takes months to get approval. What is wrong with this scenario?
We have the power to choose how we want to take care of ourselves and our well-being. The responsibility to thrive as we age is ours alone, so why not invest in your self-care ahead of time instead of waiting until something bad happens? Don’t prepare for the worst-case scenario. Choose vitality and learn how to care for yourself not only physically, but mentally, emotionally, and spiritually as well.
Good health is priceless. The one thing that I do know is that spending money now to keep your constitution rock solid, costs way less than if some major health condition befalls you in the future. The Medicaid system is predicated by the fact that once you have less than $2000 of assets to your name, the government will subsidize and take care of you. The only catch is that you may not like where you end up and won’t have the ability to make your own decisions on the care you receive.
The one tricky thing about self-care is that the “why” must be big enough for you to take action and stay committed to taking care of yourself once the health crisis or reason for doing so, decreases. I have noticed that as the intensity of a healing crisis diminishes, and the need to be vigilant wanes, if you don’t make the effort to stay conscious of what got you to that tipping point to make changes, slowly but surely you will recreate the conditions and crisis again.
Anything that challenges you also gives you the opportunity to make changes. However, once change occurs and you settle back to a more comfortable space, it is imperative that you stay conscious of what brought you to that crisis, and to stay mindful of all the things you did to heal from the dis-ease (all the energy, effort, and willpower).
Choose mindfulness and expand your awareness in order to identify what works for you and what doesn’t. This brings to mind the quote from poet, William Ernest Henley, “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul”. You have the power to determine your future – will you thrive and be well, or choose to face the realities caused by not taking care of yourself today? Know that whatever you choose to do will have its benefits and drawbacks, but the power is yours.