Setbacks, Upsets and Setting Up!

So.... not feeling well on Sunday landed me back in hospital. Seems, they took my gallbladder out but a few recalcitrant stones lurked behind. Rather surprising to end up having what felt like a gallbladder attack knowing I didn't have one to attack me! Needless to say, they had to do another procedure to remove the stones blocking my intestines.

Which, put me in hopsital for a couple of more days and kept me out of commission.

Home again and on the healing path.

There's a lot to be learned when setbacks and upsets appear -- The biggest one being, I can't change the circumstances of why I was in the hospital. I could focus on dealing with the circumstances with as much grace and ease as I could muster so that I could feel peaceful, and give myself the peace of mind to heal.

For me, this recent setback was another opportunity to learn patience -- all over again!

I'm not very patient with myself. My tendency is to say, "Okay, enough snivelling, get on with it. Get over it. Get over yourself. Quit lying around. Get going."

What I'm discovering is, my body has a separate agenda. It wants to be heard. Listened to. Acknowledged. It wants to be treated with tender loving care.

Hmmm.... Perhaps it's time I embraced B.K.S. Iyengar's teachings in, Yoga: The Path To Holistic Health. He wrote, "The body is your temple. Keep it pure and clean for the soul to reside in."

In cleaning up my psyche, I have created an imbalance within me by not giving my soul room to breathe freely. My body over the past couple of years has taken second seat in my thinking. Time to get it front and centre so that I treat it with the respect it deserves. Time to give my soul a home worthy of its magnificent beauty.

Motivational speaker, Jim Rohn, said, "Take care of your body. It's the only place you have to live."

I can't live 'out there' in the world. I can only reside 'in here' with me. Taking care of body, mind and spirit is a sacred trust. It is my responsibility, my duty.

For today, I commit to refreshing my body with loving, tender care. I commit to treating myself with respect -- inside and out. I commit to taking care of this valuable body that carries me through each moment.

My medicine for today will be to sleep as needed, to meditate, to relax and to love myself, even in my tiredness. And I'm going to give myself some inspirational medicine by reading one of my favourite books: The Generosity Factor by Ken Blanchard and S. Truett Cathy. It's short. Easy to read and very inspiring.

The question is: Are you treating your body with tender loving care? Are you giving yourself the medicine you deserve?