Well-Being II

Well-being. What is it, I ask myself again. On different days, at different times, my response may be different.

Well-being looks like being resilient, focused, self-confident and physically well in the face of any circumstance. I notice with what mind-swirling immediacy my default thinking kicks in when circumstances present themselves that I say are confronting. What makes them confronting is that they create an environment that forces my engagement with and in the UNKNOWN. Not many people buy vacation packages for that destination! Despite my resistance, I am certain that any experiences that demand engagement with the unknown will result in extraordinary personal growth. Sometimes this growth is tough to see, because it actually transforms me, and I am unable to look BACK and COMPARE. Oh well.

Well-being shows up when I am willing to take a stand and pursue my dreams NO MATTER WHAT. Most people die by the time they are 25, but they aren’t buried until they’re 75 or 80. That’s because they fail to act and ignore their dreams.

Read the Fine Print

My annual pap and mammogram tests came back normal. Super. My cholesterol panel came back with less stellar results. Although my overall cholesterol was lower than last year, my “bad” cholesterol was higher- up from a nasty 160 last year to a shocking 170 this year. I was living a pretty righteous life over the past year, like- it doesn’t affect me.

Was driving the other day, and all of a sudden, I had a complete inability to open my left eye fully. I actually had paralysis of part of my face. It lasted for a couple of minutes, and the good news is- I paid attention to it, and all is well now. I haven’t had it checked out yet, but- could that be symptomatic of a mini-stroke. Now I am not feeling so righteous. I am a little afraid. High cholesterol/heart disease/stroke. There’s plenty of research to substantiate those relationships- notwithstanding family history. How does a five-way bypass sound?

Then (all this sent as cosmic messengers), on the radio yesterday, I heard a report out of Philadelphia about menus on well-trafficked restaurants that offer nutritional information for “healthy offerings/weight watchers/guiltless” sections. Bottom line is- the calorie count was usually MUCH higher than the number listed, with the exception, it seemed of some of the salads. The fat grams, however, including the salads, generally were 3-5 times higher than what was listed. One of the three major chains represented was not even apologetic. That leaves, realistically, ONE source I can rely on to prepare food that is probably “safe” for me to eat- ME. A fair warning to all. I have relied on those nutritional synopses on menus, and will no longer.

What Is Well-Being?

It’s work, It’s a journey, It’s a commitment. I have said all of this in relation to my well-being.
Yes, well, Maybe.

It’s a relationship. It’s a relationship with myself for and about my well-being. It’s a relationship with others who are vital and interested and energized. It’s a relationship with my own body as the vehicle willing and able to transport me through all of the experiences that I get to call my life. How could I not honor that?

As quickly as I forget, as I live in being accustomed to what I have, and how I live, just as quickly I can draw my own attention back to the miracle that it is to be here, and to be very much alive!

I am travelling, united in travel, in fact, with the women of WGD. I brought my swimsuit because there is a pool here, and it is unseasonably warm. This has been a week for miracles. They are showing up right, left, and center in the lives of everyone I know. I am holding the space wide open for miracles in my own life, too. I will let the warm weather and having a bathing suit with me be a miracle worth celebrating.

Whose Birthday Is It?

It’s my 46th birthday tomorrow. Now I know what 46 looks like. And I also don’t know what it looks like. When I was contemplating this post, I had an idea of what I meant by that- that I don’t know what it looks like. As I compose, much more depth, and access to a completely different perspective on what that means are materializing…

I got a copy of Dr. Abravanel’s Body Type Diet on Naughty Zoot’s recommendation. One of the ways to identify your body type is to look at drawings of various body types and select that which resembles you. As I looked through, I was so irritated that I had no idea which of these detailed drawings I most resembled. I thought, “Oh, crap, now I’ll have to read through ALL of it, then go back and match my body to the drawing.” I put the book aside, intending to “get back to it” this weekend.

Here’s the thing I just got- My God- how disconnected and unrelated I am to my own body, in which I have lived, on which I have depended, for 46 years, and I don’t know what it looks like. Next- how willing I am to put off anything that has to do with my well-being (particularly fitness). I had a cholesterol screening this morning, and I am HOPING it will turn out better than last year. I hardly did anything to ensure that that would be the case.

There’s more- this is how I lose power: I lose the power that is natural for a magnificent and radiant woman because I don’t pay attention to who that is, to what she looks like, to what it takes to maintain her optimum fitness. What a loss, what a disservice. Self- love, full , unconditional, and unadulterated, is the restorative for power.

And I don’t know what 46 looks like. This is the year : the year of my power, of my beauty, of my presence to and acknowledgement of what I can create. This is the year of blank canvas. This is MY year, and this is my beginning.
I’ll know my body type by next week, I will be in action around it, and I am here, paintbrush in hand.