Today is a short life experience I actually would like to share. We all go through it at some point and tend to push this on the back burner pretty often due to many reasons. One common reason I heard was from a coworker today when a manager told her this job should be her Priority. Even beginning work at 4am and being half tired I knew this was wrong. Your Kids, if you have any, should come first. But your top of the list Priority should be your health. Yup I am sure some of you gasped at the H word there. Yes I said it, Your health should be on the top of your list with a few other things I will not mention.
This is a very common one we always tend to push off to the side and ignore. Well I am like you and do this myself. Not as often as I used to but today showed me that I need to take better care of myself. Today is the worst day out of the year for Retailers because of the competition on the one National Holiday every Spendee glorifies: Black Friday. (Sorry shopaholics but Cyber Mondays tend to have much greater deals) Today I had to run around the store and work in all departments along with attempting to complete tasks which seem impossible. Going to work at 4 in the morning is fairly routine. But running around for the full 8 hour shift however is not. So you can imagine once I got off how sore my feet were.
Had to wait on my paycheck and have to walk 2-3 miles to cash it. Normally the walk isn’t bad but I can say that when I normally don’t run around for 8 hours trying not to get yelled at for not being able to complete impossible tasks. Today seemed like one of those non cool days. As I was walking I actually tripped and fell to the ground. Now I normally don’t fall and even when I do I never fall completely to the ground. Well today seemed more like my klutz day of sorts. My ankle rolled and I banged my knee on the sidewalk along with the side of my arm. Stung a bit but really didn’t hurt. I tripped over a partial crushed water bottle that I didn’t see. In my mind to make it laughable the water bottle was out to get me for some reason even though I recycle. But I should have taken that as a sign.
Now the trek home is pretty far from this location and I almost tripped a second time but I didn’t go down. My ankle rolled and corrected in time as to avoid another side walk plunge. But this was due to uneven ground. The rest of the walk my legs slow just a bit and that is when I figured my body was tired from this mornings list of impossibles. Half way home I had to pick up something to drink in order to make it home. Dehydration had kicked in when I made it back to the area of the store. Once home my body feels like lead and is tired but taking a nap is hard for me since I can never stay asleep. (If you have younger siblings you know this feeling all too well) My allergies are a little flared due to the rapid weather change and having to walk through the dust in a construction zone. Now my knee hurts if I bend it too far.
As you can see today was making me more of a punching bag thanks to over demands of a job and fatigue. Our health, as I mentioned before, is always taking a back burner. We don’t do it intentionally, Well most of us don’t anyways. But if we don’t take care of ourselves we won’t be able to continue doing great outdoor activities like soccer, walking, swimming and such. We can’t look our best for that amazing dinner date or that job interview we must nail. Even our own health affects our family. Like your husband/wife can feel some of your pain and they worry about you. Kids will ask questions. Even friends will point out if something is wrong.
Our health is everything including our life lines. Taking better care of ourselves starts with sleep. We need it and even if I do it often for work days 3-4 hours is not enough no matter your age. Workaholics this applies to you as well. You may feel fine but your body will cause you to work slower, be sluggish or even lock up like mines did a bit today. Second is water, we have to drink it. You have enhanced water and even flavors to add to water from Mio, Store Brands, and Crystal Light to name a few. You don’t have to drink plain water if you dislike the taste but you must continue to have water. Water is vital for our bodies it helps our bodies replenish and resist the elements a bit better. Please don’t see this as a chore but more so as an awareness we all must take into consideration. All priority lists will differ but health should be somewhere on your top list.
Take care of your health to live a long, active and beautiful healthy life~
Like some people I went to work this morning and got off at a decent time. Mostly I return to my parents place and relax a bit before falling back to sleep. Today was like any other except sleep did not come easy. Tossing and turning and even with the sound of water coming from my laptop speakers I was still unable to find that meditation of quiet solace to allow sleep for a few hours. So today I feel like doing something different since I am not at home to do my usual release of such built up troubles.
The game I am using as reference for my contemplation is from a called Tales of Symphonia. The song is titled Ymir Forest. Perhaps on another day I can talk about the track and why it appeals to me so much but if you would like to get an understanding of my emotions as you read on copy the link and type repeat in the tube location. Although it isn’t a seamless loop you can get the idea from the melody.
[If on yourepeat: Start-00:05 End-02:50]
This is the maze, many despise in the game, called Ymir Forest. I am going to walk through my maze of Ymir’s forest.
Here at the starting point I try to advance slowly but even at one point I have so many planks to choose from. Some life changing conditions, others a temporary fix and yet others, like many, lead to the unknown. If anyone has every told you their life has been a straight arrow they have woven you a string of lies. Nothing is ever as it seems and yet if it were as straight as we wished it to be we would cease becoming human. Our life is based on advancement, regression to an extent in order for us to pick ourselves up and move forward. Become stronger and better than before. Not doing so means giving up and letting others know you care not where you drift. Sometimes a choice is hard to make but you choose one and go on.
As I continue on a path I chose I notice despite the thriving foliage here the waters seem like poison. People I allowed into my inner sanctum sometimes cause me harm. The security I felt long ago no longer seems to exist. Why do I feel like I should be choking when yet I am steadily breathing. Poison is just that isn’t it? A toxin to cause illness to the body and mind? Yet here I feel nothing. More decisions more planks and yet some I know directly and take that path no questions asked. Others take more thought but the longer I linger the less time I feel I have.
At some point I am no longer walking but running. Some decisions have to be fast and others may have already been decided having my feet just go before my mind could question it. We never know which is the right choice at the time but we find out later in life that regardless of the choice it opened the doors to others with better benefits. As I begin slowing my pace after the years’ sprint the waters are starting to clear but the planks are 4 times more confusing. Stress has built up on the back burner and is now surfacing. Something I used to do I have not done in a long time and not having my release I have regressed into a mid life crisis many would state.
We all experience it after a series of events occur without you being able to release that built up tension, worry, ache, and such. I try to sit but my legs and mind won’t let me. So I choose something not laid out for me. I step into the waters not caring about the cold liquid nor if this was the poison or clean pools. I begin climbing over some roots and under others since the tree is called the Tree of Life. This path I know I am not walking alone but it is very hard for me to see my better half when they are so far ahead at the moment. I will catch up eventually but unsure when.
I come to a point where I feel a tug at my heart. I follow that through the thick of weeping leaves and come to a glade of sorts. No planks lead here at all and yet I found a secret area more than likely meant just for me alone. It is cool here and yet this light I see won’t seem to fade but I feel peace here. I have no idea where I lost myself but my feet and heart seemed to be chained into the waters preventing me from leaving this place as of right now.
(Son Goku and Hakuru from Saiyuki)
Soon the light begins to fade and I hear small splashes. I see the essence being wrapped around by my persona, inner being, and the guardian of my soul. The splashes continue but beneath the hardened shell I see a glowing vibrant blue many would call my trapped soul. My Persona just smirks at me as I try to figure out its thoughts. At times it appears male and others female. Today it took a form of a male and in a slightly unhuman form. Similar to a video game character race I play often. He says nothing and the Guardian moves slightly but stares at me intently. I have no idea why I am here but these chains are very heavy so I sit in this water.
Why am I here? Why am I restless? Uneasy? Confused? Stressed? Many events occurred in such a short span of time. It almost seems like time even wants to speed up my agony to see if I will give in the towel of defeat. I am not one to give in easily. I am a fighter, a mage, a punisher of sorts. Giving up is never an option even if my chances look slim. I will turn that impossible into a possible and prove that I will not be held back by anything nor anyone despite my trials. Then why am I here? My Guardian is one from mythology and my Persona is one many would see as a demon although it is nothing like the labels of evil.
At some point the splashes stop and everything becomes suspended in animation. Fireflies still the splashes on pause and the sounds of nature cease but the music continues. The pulsing vibrant orb is dim at the moment and my Persona lets go. He walks up to me and yet I can not move. Without a word he flicks my forehead and tilts my head up. The chains are loud as they move but I get the feeling I am causing this harm to myself. As if I brought myself to this supposed dead end and I am crying over nothing. As I look up the once green tree is decaying a bit. Patches of brown can be seen and falling leaves are stilled.
Why show me this? Why can’t I speak. Why can’t he speak for that matter? Thoughts run through my head on events from this year and I find myself being flicked on the forehead once more. Okay maybe it is me over thinking which is zapping me from my vibrant life. So I begin to do what I have done in the past. Avoid contact with others and meditate. Everything happens for a reason. I will never understand it now but I will learn in due time. Finances everyone struggles with. It has become the common mark of society but why worry when everything is being taken care of? It is being handled and yet I worry still. How foolish and inconsiderate of me when I should see this as a blessing of sorts. No one likes a grueling job where they are nothing but a number. But it brings in much needed cash even if a little. It is better than nothing. So why let them stress you out? They can’t help you live your life. Sure they may assist you in somethings and that is nice. But no company is ever worth you losing your health and stressing over. Do what needs to be done there and over time you will be able to free yourself from such bonds to start living your life fully. Frictions will occur in friendships, family relations and even with significant others. But why cause more chaos when you should aim for a neutral ground. Soon you can figure out the problem of the chaos and correct it. Stop forcing thing to move and just let it move naturally.
Suddenly my mind becomes clearer and the chains I had on me begin to crumble. My heart is not aching as much and a weight seems to be off my shoulders.The air was cool before but now it is at a comfortable level. As I open my eyes my persona is in front of me smiling happily. I swear if he had a tail it would wag a mile a minute. He helps me up and gives me a hug. This warmth is very familiar and in an instant I feel relief wash over me. He snaps his fingers and everything continues. The hardened shell just falls off and he goes back to resting around it. His nails graze the surface of this beautiful orb as he smiles at me. I feel much better knowing that I am protected. That my family is protected. That my friends are protected. No matter what we go through in life we are watched over and cared for. This mid life crisis could have been avoided if I would have done what I normally do. Forgetting to do the simple things that has helped me in the past is never a good thing. Then again my persona and guardian probably needed me to see how bad I was torturing myself if I allowed this to continue.
I see a glimpse of my other half walking ahead and before I knew it my feet were catching up to him so we can walk together. I believe taking the time to ourselves and releasing such built up stress, emotions and other things that weigh us down is important. I have never written this out before but now at the end of my once restless self I am glad I did and I was able to share. I know it is very deep and to some people it may seem a bit too personal. I just want to remind you that I am a person of creativity. I unleash stress differently and this is a creative outlet that I even allowed you to walk through with me. Without even knowing it I believe I have helped you out some too. Thank you for reading and sharing my experience.
We Heart Art 