I had to cancel a small overnight trip the other day that was originally planned as a birthday gift for my partner. It was something I know we both were looking forward to, but unfortunately, my health hasn’t reached a level yet where I feel comfortable travelling anywhere. My partner agreed with me and so we postponed it until the fall.
When I actually made these plans a few months ago, I was beginning to see small signs of progress that led me to make an assumption I’d be in a good enough place of health when the day of the trip rolled around. Sadly, my assumption was slightly off. While I know there are plenty who would probably still go on the trip no matter how they felt, I haven’t had much success in doing that in any of the last few trips I’ve taken.
Travelling involves expelling a lot of energy and having a lot of mobility for me, especially when there’s a long plane or car ride involved. For this trip specifically, there would have been some extended car travel to get there and a good amount of walking once there as well, neither of which I’m able to fully handle yet.
To be perfectly honest, It’s truly frustrating continuing to be in this spot with my health and healing, given how long I’ve been working on improving it. But healing in the way I am is grossly different than how many people these days seem to deal with their health.
Usually the first line of treatment for most when any ache or pain or some other health issue arises is to take some over-the-counter remedy, hoping it will provide the necessary amelioration. But when it doesn’t, it’s usually off to the doctors where stronger medications are prescribed. This was my own pattern of healing for the longest long time, but I never got better doing it. I eventually realized I was only putting Band-Aids on deeper-seated issues every time I put a pill in my mouth. Even worse, I learned in doing so that my body is super-sensitive to most medications and I got more side effects then benefits.
That’s why I use the holistic approach these days and am doing what I can to trust in my own body to naturally heal itself. And of course that involves some of my own work too, primarily on the mental and emotional level. But so far this has been a slow process and one at times I have wished I could really speed up, except healing naturally often does take a lot more time than what the ego wants. This is precisely why I think over-the-counter drugs and prescribed medications are frequently the course of treatment for so many like it once was for me.
But now it’s not for me anymore. Instead, I sit through the pain and trust as best as I can that my body is self-healing itself. This means I don’t take painkillers or any medications to curb symptoms and that alone makes what I go through all the more challenging, particularly when it comes to going on a trip somewhere out of town. Thus this is why I came to acceptance that cancelling this overnight trip was for my highest good at the present time.
I am grateful for knowing and accepting my current limits in life due to my health because in the past I would have just given in to my ego and done what I could to push myself beyond them, only to suffer a lot more on my trip than if I hadn’t gone. But more importantly, I absolutely remain faithful in my Higher Power and the healing forces within me that I will eventually be travelling again like I once used to on a regular basis, once my health gets a little better. Because I know it will. It’s just going to take a little more time and a little more patience…
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson
Don’t sweat the small stuff. I have you and you have me and that is birthday gift enough for me.
Love you Dawson….me