Water

This morning was hard though it didn’t need to be.  I did some things wrong and I did some things right.  It will be helpful to review both so that I don’t repeat the negative parts of the experience and so that I can repeat the positive aspects.

First, I did only one thing wrong:  I didn’t take care of myself.   Specifically I hadn’t had enough water.  I was dehydrated.  According to one article, http://www.cafehydrate.com/?p=117, thirst is not the only indicator of dehydration.  In the same article it says that 75% of Americans are dehydrated.  We should all be drinking “8x8,” that is eight 8-ounce glasses a day.  I’m nowhere near that.   Besides the physical symptoms, dehydration can lead to depression, irritability, inability to think, disorientation and anxiety.  I wonder how many of my panic attacks were simply the result of lack of water.  Even the practice of tapping is more effective when one is hydrated.

When I am not hydrated, my body is working much harder just to deal with life’s normal stressors, like soldiers all rushing to the front leaving no room to guard the rear.   My defenses are down.  So when something significant happens, my mind makes it even worse.  Hence, the panic attacks.  A few weeks ago, my Muse challenged me to drink at least six bottles a day.  I’m no quite there yet, but I’m drinking a lot more.  The only problem with this is that my body is now adjusting to the greater levels of water and needs this maintained consistently.  When I’m not consistent, I pay for it.  Already, since starting this blog, I’ve had about 20 ounces of water and I can tell I need more. 

I have not been taking care of myself.  If I treated my child the way I treat myself, I would be accused of parental neglect.  It would be considered abuse.  Why then do I abuse myself?  I love myself and I don’t want to be this way any longer.  I don’t want to be thirsty or tired or depressed or afraid anymore.  I want to love myself and love my life.  My life is too short to create even one more moment of unnecessary pain.  That’s what I do when I don’t take care of my body, my mind, or my spirit.  I create pain for myself.

Being more spiritually oriented, I have tended to ignore my body.  I neglected true spirituality which means taking care of all parts of ourselves because they are gifts from God.   Besides not drinking enough water, I don’t get enough sleep and I don’t eat enough fruits and vegetables.  I have told myself that if I can just change my attitude or my perceptions, then I can feel good.  There’s truth in this, but perhaps if I took better care of my body, I might not need to deal with the problems my mind produces so often.

Despite my lack of self-care, which I am now addressing, I did do some things right.

First, I stayed with my work.  I got a blog done even though I was struggling with fear and depression.   My solution may have been a simple glass of water, but sometimes I work through even when I’m sick or tired.   I don’t recommend this, but sometimes it’s necessary.  So I made the right choice in doing my work.  I think it’s important to get the work done even when I don’t feel like it, especially when I don’t feel like it.  My fear and depression might have had other causes besides dehydration.  The cause doesn’t always matter.  It may have been physical or it may have bee spiritual or emotional.   It didn’t matter.  I needed to persevere and I did.

The second thing I did right was to get help.  In this case, I called a friend for prayer.  The beauty of prayer is that it has the power to heal any pain, no matter the cause.  Because my depression seemed inexplicable this morning, I assumed its source was spiritual.  It may have been spiritual and physical.  It doesn’t matter.  What matters is that the prayer helped.  The prayer may have also led to the idea to drink more water.  Again, it’s the solution, more than the source that matters here.

The third thing I did right was

So now I feel better.  I’ve had even more water and I’ve eliminated it.  I’m ready for a quick rest and then to do other things.   I am learning to love myself.  I will Get Started and Keep Going, but I will do it while I am drinking some water.