Healthy You Challenge

Nicole wrote a beautiful post the other day called Take Care. It really spoke to me on such a personal level because I've always been the person who did what she should do instead of what I wanted to do. I think if you read her post, you'll agree that it has a true sense of purpose.

Enjoy!

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Take Care

The other day I read an article about a pill that could possibly be the "miracle cure" to obesity. *sigh* As a society we are deeply entrenched in the idea that pills are what we need to cure us of all sorts of ills. I'm not disputing the fact that pills can indeed BE miracles. I have no doubt that I'd still be depressed and stuffing my face on the couch right now if it weren't for my antidepressants. However, I also acknowledge that if I'd taken proper care of myself, I probably wouldn't have needed the pills.

If speaking kindly to a friend makes her feel good, why do we expect our body to respond positively to comments like "You're so fat!" or "Look at those WRINKLES. Ugh!" We wouldn't say such things to our worst enemy, but how many times a day do such destructive thoughts flit through our heads?

I am firmly convinced that the keys to keeping myself happy are exercise and nurturing my spirit. Funny, but with all the very competent doctors I've seen regarding depression, not one EVER mentioned caring for my soul as being important, and they only discussed exercise with me if I brought it up.

I'm afraid that we've become a society that only believes what can be proven by science after years of study. Sure, in many ways that's fantastic, but one side effect is that we're trained to ignore our intuitive side. We "can't" take an art class because we don't have time. You know, because we're so busy multi-tasking things that a month from now aren't going to make a bit of difference to anyone. We refuse to set boundaries and ask people to respect those boundaries. We wear clothes that fashion magazines say are in style or decorate our homes and yards in a manner that's currently in vogue, all the while ignoring our desire to have a living room with purple walls or pink flamingos on the yard. For what? What does that get us, really? Sure, maybe we won't be judged for decorating tastes, but rest assured you WILL be judged for something. YOU WILL BE JUDGED. Get over it.

The other day I ordered a canvas bag from LL Bean for my yoga stuff. I thought I "should" get a color scheme that is fairly conservative so that I can carry it and look somewhat sophisticated. I "shouldn't" get a monogram, or if I did, it "should" be just my initials or it "should" be Nicole.

You know what I DID, though? I got white canvas--which of course, I "shouldn't" have gotten because it gets dirty too easily--with lime green accents and a monogram that reads, "Nicki." Because I feel more like a "Nicki" than a "Nicole" lately. And when I take that bag into the high end rec center where my yoga class is, I'll be happy because it makes my heart sing. And I could care less if I get judged because I'm a Nicki instead of a Nicole.