Recharging your health is the best investment you can make in 2021. It is not selfish, it means you will be your best self when others need you.
When I was young I trained to be an American Red Cross Lifeguard. The first rule to learn is “do not become a victim when heading off to rescue others.” Sage words to live by.
Healthcare workers, moms, and caregivers are ironically terrible about taking care of themselves. They put others first, which on many levels is noble, but in many ways become a detriment to those they are trying to help. The exception is caring for self spiritually, physically, emotionally, and socially. Our life is based on energy, an energy that is constantly being transformed. I call the energy Qi. We expend it and we must receive it if we are to be in balance and at our best for others. The American culture is to expend it. We are trained to give it in time, thought and resources -we are not taught to take the time to replenish.
Think of a car battery, it works as it should if it is fully charged. When it losses its charge so many things start to go wrong in the car and eventually it will not start. If we give the car fuel, run the engine properly and care for the engine, the car battery will recharge properly giving us good service.
From the lens of Traditional Chinese Medicine, our Kidney energy is our car battery. It came to us fully charged to its maximum capacity at birth and if recharge daily will be with us for long life. Our fuel is a combination of clean whole foods, clean water, clean air, moderate exercise, and positive thoughts. These combined build Qi our life force. They are required daily to recharge us. The body is miraculous, when forced to survive it will. It has a reserve pack in times of stress when a daily recharge is not possible. But to what end? We are not meant to be in a continuous state of stress without a proper recharge. A state of depletion. Functions of the body stop working when in a state of depletion -imbalance. I trust you have experienced that.
The stress of 2020 has exhausted and depleted us. It is vital that 2021 be different. This year needs to be an investment in health, in recharging the human batteries with Qi and balance. Invest in the recharge.
