Gretchen Rubin, fellow blogger and writer of bestselling blook The Happiness Project, talks about cherishing her ‘obedient body’.
I love this.
Maybe you have had someone you love get sick- really sick- and never properly recover and you run from them after your visit, as I have, they in their wheelchair back there and me on strong legs, marvelling at my obedient body. It works. My goodness, it works like a dream.
And maybe you have been afraid, so afraid, of a diagnosis, a lump, a blood test, a set of confusing symptoms? During that time you fantasize about pure and simple wellness- not wealth, not beauty, not fame, not dinner, not pretty shoes, not love. Just health.
You picture that simple morning coffee, fret and frenzy free. You imagine that you would embrace a garbage strike in a summer heat wave, a long commute in a nasty snow storm, an unexpectedly fat Rogers bill, a criticism from a loved one, a dirty kitchen, a basement flood, a huge workload, with so much tenderness and love and giddyness, if you could just be well again.
You hear yourself say outloud “I promise to never take it for granted if you just make sure I am okay”
And then the stars are with you and you are okay, in perfect health actually, and you slide back into taking it for granted.
What if you could start this year loving and taking care of your obedient body – that does everything so perfectly and so beautifully- no matter how poorly you treat it?
Hold onto your seat- I am giving up sugar for the month of January as a thank you to my health. If you know me you know this is not easy. Be nice to me- even if I growl.
And, if you must, you may comment on my obedient body.