I went to the doctor yesterday. It was my first wellness check in over two years. The morning of my appointment I wasn’t feeling very well, nothing too crazy, but it was that onset feeling that you get right before you get sick. I proceeded to get ready and went to work and while I was there, I started to progressively feel worse. I told my boss I needed to leave so I handled some responsibilities and headed home. I made it to my appointment and spent the rest of the day thinking about two things.
1. OUR HEALTH NEEDS OUR CONSISTENT ATTENTION. The transition from parents/guardians taking care of our health and passing the baton to us is an interesting transition. I’m sure many of us can remember the first time we had to call the doctor and make our own appointment, get blood work done, and so on. I remember the days of feeling sick and my mom doing what needed to be done to take care of me and as soon as that responsibility became my own it was a struggle to just do what needed to be done and it was easy to neglect. That neglect came from the fact that I “felt” fine and so no need to fix what’s not broken right? WRONG. Our health is not this rotating renewal program that just regenerates as time moves forward. Its more like a vehicle that needs to be checked, refueled, and at times repairs need to be made. Our bodies require maintenance that can be classified as daily, weekly, yearly, etc. This work is our responsibility.
Which leads me to my next point:
2. THERE IS ONLY ONE YOU AND YOUR LEVEL OF RESPONSE TO YOUR HEALTH NEEDS WILL EITHER HELP YOU OR HURT YOU. * I am a recovering people please, meaning that I have slowly been working on leaving that life behind. In my time of people pleasing that included putting my own needs to the side to either show up or fulfill a duty that I needed to fulfill. Now don’t get me wrong, I am all about sticking to commitments, but not at the expense of health. Yesterday when I was not feeling well, my first mind was to just stick it out and basically ignore the fact that I felt like something was not right, then I validated how I was feeling and took care of myself by asking to leave. Now, I know this cannot be the case for everyone, but I mention this because what I have learned is that when you don’t listen to warning signs, you’ll find yourself in worse shape compared to if you took heed to the initial warning. I also learned that no matter the occupation, jobs will figure out how to handle your absence, but if you are down and out, who is going to take care of you?
It turns out that my body is fighting off something, but it has not reached the level of a cold or anything of that nature. I am thankful. (I also learned a whole of things regarding my health that had not crossed my mind since the last time I was in a doctor’s office. I will be sure to get to my annual checkup moving forward.). Now, I will spend the rest of this week following up with bloodwork and tests, so I have all I need for my already scheduled, follow up, doctor appointment a month from today.
I think about what if I had “stuck it out” through the workday instead of heading home, eating something nutritious, and taking a nap. I’ve done that before and all it did was make things worse and had me in bed for a few days working to get better. This brings me to my last point…. Y’all, we have got to take care of our health (mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional). We are all the only versions of ourselves in this world and our bodies are the ONE vehicle we have to live out our lives, love those who are close to us, and serve in the capacities that set our hearts on fire. Let’s take the best care we can of what we have been given in honoring our bodies by eating well, getting some exercise in every day, staying hydrated, scheduling our wellness exams, and LISTENING to what it has to say so when we don’t feel “right” we know, and take proactive steps to seeking out what we need to get well. Lets make 2020 a year of maintaining our health to the best of our ability.
Rooting for you always.
- C
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*There are many health issues that are out of our control. So please be mindful of the fact that I completely understand that we can take the best care of ourselves and take our health seriously and yet must deal with disease. To those of you who are in that group, my prayers are with you as you navigate the many conditions that exist that are out of your hands. *
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