We had a bit of a reality check these last two days. My (Nikki’s) upper back went into a major spasm both mornings, to the point where when I moved even slightly, I couldn’t breathe. It was so painful that I fainted and gave Kevin a pretty big shock. I used to get muscle spasms when I was younger, so I thankfully understood what was going on. That being said, it’s still a pretty harrowing experience which has led to a few insights which we decided were worth sharing….
1) Our health is EVERYTHING! That’s because, our life is everything! It sounds obvious, but our life is literally all we have (as far as we truly know). Why would we knowingly do anything that would compromise our existence? Further still, why wouldn’t we do everything in our power to ensure, extend, and enhance our existence? Years ago when I got my back spasms checked out, I was told that I need to do strengthening exercises. I’ve been doing Pilates and yoga regularly for more than 10 years, but I haven’t done any exercise whatsoever in almost 6 months. It seems strange….I know that exercise is important. There’s no question about it. It’s researched and proven beyond doubt. So how did I let myself get to this? This leads to our next insight…
2) I was in a great exercise routine up until the beginning of the year when I went away for 9 weeks, and for some reason I am yet to get back into it. I’ve had a myriad of excuses: I’m too busy…I don’t know where to go…It’s too expensive…I can do it myself…I’ll start next week. Before I knew it, it’s now been almost 6 months! Here’s my theory….it just hasn’t been a priority for me because let’s face it, I’ve been fine without it (up until now). Most of the time, us humans live in an illusion that we are immortal. Or, that we personally are the exception. That it won’t happen to me. It’s most probably a survival mechanism, because if we were constantly confronted with the fear of death, it would be immobilising and we couldn’t thrive as a species. So we just ignorantly keep going…until we get a wake up call, one way or another. This leads to our final insight…
3) How many of you aren’t meditating because of a similar story? You know that stress is detrimental to your health. You’ve felt the effects, you’ve seen the research. And you know meditation works. You’ve felt the effects, you’ve seen the research. So, why aren’t you meditating regularly? Our guess is that something broke your routine: you went away, you changed jobs, your pass ran out, you got busy. The fact of the matter is, you’re doing fine without it! For now, that is….
It’s time to ask yourself: Do you really want to see what that wake up call looks like? Are you certain that all your excuses really weigh up? We are sure you can find SOME spare time during the week if you really set your mind to it. And there are plenty of apps, books, and videos to help guide you. Hey, you’ve even got a couple near by dedicated to making meditation as accessible as possible just for you (and a tranquil urban sanctuary to go with it). So…what are you waiting for? And while we are at at, what other aspects of your life are you making excuses for?
