To-do lists

Listen.

There are incredibly healthy, important things we can do to help ourselves heal. This includes a dizzying list ranging from tumeric, probiotics and omega 3s to nature, body movement, communication skills and breathing techniques. It is possible to have all the right and healthy things happening in your life and for you still to be struggling and suffering. You can be checking off the ‘healthy things to-do list’ and be miserable.

The bad news is that how we treat ourselves and how well we know ourselves ends up being just as important as any healthy behavior we can practice.

We salivate after the idea that we do not have to get our hands dirty, or dive into the mess of our experience to feel better. We want to pour epoxy over the dirty floor and just have it be fresh and clean and shiny. I get it.

I get the fear, the avoidance, the anger of even having to deal with it again and again. But I can also tell you it is worth it, to truly understand and deeply appreciate yourself. And then it is no longer a wrestling match to force yourself to do something healthy, it is a natural inclination that you follow out of a deeply rooted peace. Get rid of the list. Start the exploration.