Looking Out My Back Window #40

Originally posted on Facebook HERE

I usually post the weekly “looking out my back window” much earlier in the day, but I haven’t been feeling so great today, even reading seems like it would take too much energy, so I’m hanging out at home while the rest of the family has their Easter celebration. Sleeping a lot, almost ten hours so far today, might go back to sleep when I’m done with this. When I got up this morning and flipped my calendar to April, the quote for the month is “Every human being is the author of his own health”, and my mind went to all the ways I brought this on myself. Each of us has only so much capacity for what we can attain in any specific period in our lives. Some of us (I’m in this category) push the envelope, have a lot going on, feel like we can always fit things in, get it done, and fill our schedules to the brim with little or no down time. And usually we can, until we surpass the limit. You can only burn the candle at both ends for so long until you get burned. Illness is a great reminder that life needs us to take care of ourselves first. I haven’t been eating great lately, certainly pushing the edge with my sleep habits (or lack thereof), work schedule has been worse than usual as we prepare for me to have a lengthy leave of absence this month to finish my book… no surprise that my body was susceptible to disease. “Slow down”. My mantra for the last couple weeks as I meditate has been “God is calm. Love is open.” It kinda sticks with me during the week then, so when something disturbs me, in the back of my head I hear “God is calm” and I know this disturbance is coming from my ego. When I’m put into situations with people and I’m questioning “Why is this person in my life? Why do I need this interaction?”… I think “Love is open” and try not to let my heart close. And when I get sick, I realize I am the author of my own health and I can see that sleep is important. Eating well is important. Working out is important. But most important is watching your balance, and not letting capacity issues add undue stress to your life. “Slow down”. Thoreau has many quotes that I love. I’ve tried to read “Walden” several times unsuccessfully, similar to “the autobiography of Ben Franklin”, just can’t seem to get through them. One of Thoreau’s quotes is “Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify.” Good to know my system of checks and balances is still working, and I will take today to rest and recharge. Then, going forward I’ll adjust my health habits accordingly as well… once things are rolling along and I’m feeling great again I might want to start pushing the envelope, but I’ll remember today, and all the days like it in my life, and think twice before acting. Maybe I’ve been pushing the wrong envelope