I am thinking about snot.  I can't help it because it keeps dripping out of my sore swollen red nose.  Thank god for soft kleenex with lotion on it.  I have a head cold.  You get the picture, and I am sorry for that...  On the one hand I seem to have regained my ability to swallow now that the knife that was slicing the back of my throat has melted into runny snot - but my brain is now operating in fuzzy mode.  As in I should get into some fuzzy pyjamas and slippers and not do anything for a day or two. 

I had big plans to get myself into the gym this weekend after a fair bit of holiday indulgence, but apparently a tiny virus has more power to decide my plans than my fancy schmancy brain.  The vulnerable truth of being human is that there are forces other than ourselves, our will, our intentions that affect the outcomes of things that we want, hope for, long for.  And one of those things is the limits of being in a physical body that gets tired and sick sometimes. 

Still, I am happy because there was a time in my life when I would have automatically pressed the over-ride button.  I would have just downed some cold remedies and pushed through.  Of course, if there were actually a crisis that kind of stoicism would be utterly appropriate, and I would be glad that I was able to soldier on.  But that is rarely truly needed in my life today.  When I was younger I so often disregarded myself just because I didn't want to let anyone down, or because I felt I ought to be tougher, or because it just seemed like the superior thing to do. 

No more.  Now I believe that I am in a relationship with this loving body that provides me with a home for my consciousness.  It is a relationship of equals - consciousness and matter interweaving to create this amazing human experience - and my body deserves to be listened to and responded to with tender care.  So I am going to make a steaming cup of hot lemon and honey, snuggle under the covers, and let my body rest for a bit.  I am going to love myself, snot and all.

I hope that you too will begin this new year giving your body what it genuinely asks for.  It deserves such care.  You deserve such care.

  Photo credit: S. Strawboy