The Astonishing Results of Rest

A few weeks ago, when I sat up groggily and burst into tears, I was inspired!

Actually, I had been driving myself for months. We sold the building I'd worked in for 26 years and I'd relocated 5 times in a year. So it had taken a sledge hammer of pain to get my attention.  

I grew up with the chronic pain of degenerative hip disease, so I have had a lifelong pattern of ignoring discomfort in order to live the life I wanted....until I simply couldn't move.

The bugaboo for me is rest. 
Am I resting or am I defeated?  And by golly, I will not be defeated.

There's a difference between good hard work and going over the line. One message our society in the US encourages us to do is work till we drop. And there's another which says that because we do this, we "deserve" something good. We aren't encouraged to think about how we affect others. Comfort becomes the goal.

But there are other ways to be.

I also spent 20 years suffering with ulcerative colitis. During this time, a friend wrote me a note which I kept taped to a drawer near my treatment room. It said:
​"If I don't want to talk to my client,
If I watch the clock during a session,
If I think my client is annoying,
This means I'm sick and I need to lie down RIGHT NOW!"
Then I would, and a miracle would happen: I'd feel better and my clients returned to being charming!!

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​This week I'm at the Oregon Coast where I'm not distracted by the pulls I feel at home. It's been glorious! I've had little hilarious adventures in healing and I've been drawing every day. And I'm having many, many hours of rest....and fun.  And at the end of the week, I will come back refreshed, with new thoughts on connecting and caring--both for myself and for others.

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And so what about you? How do you "push yourself around"? And how do you counter the messages that encourage you to?

​Is it time for a little (maybe hilarious) help healing?