If ever I thought there was a time when I should be blogging, it is now, during Invisible Illness Week. Yep, there’s those “shoulds” again!
Meanwhile, my body is aggravated enough to send my mind, followed by my mouth, screaming: I HATE MY BODY! Irritatingly, this has become a regular occurrence. It’s bad enough trying to have a decent relationship with my physical parts, let alone the spiritual ones. I got to the point where thinking about God and prayer led me to an exclamation point in an otherwise completely blank space. No, make that several exclamation points…and a few fuming frustration marks thrown in for good measure. Being the fix-it person I am, I decided that if I couldn’t pray the way I was used to, I could at least express some sort of simple gratitude, preferably in a reverent fashion. I had to find something basic to hold onto, something more tangible than breathing.
What’s more basic than food?
It began with a bowl of oatmeal. I had not felt like eating much since the pain was overpowering most of my senses and desires. (Desires? What are those??) I fell back on something my dad always says: when you don’t feel like eating, eat something simple. An egg. A dry piece of toast, or one with peanut butter for protein. A bowl of oatmeal sprinkled with raisins.
So there I stood, plastic bowl of freshly-nuked oatmeal in my hands, and I took a sniff of the warm steam rising into my face, feeling slightly like I was having a facial. I closed my eyes, mentally making this note: Thanks for this bowl of oatmeal. Then I ate it. Pretty easy, huh?
Ever since, I’ve tried to say that simple thanks over whatever edibles I’ve chosen to chew on. It has made a huge difference, over time, in my spiritual health. Whenever I feel overwhelmed, I go back to that simple picture…and that’s my take.
I LOVE this gratitude idea – start with the BASICS! Yes!! Lately I’ve been trying to do something similar with things in my life but never thought of it as starting with the basics, that gives me something to hold on to…something that will make it easier to remember..thanks! and what a GREAT blog name..love it!!
Now, these are basics that everyone can do —-and I’m going to try! My gratitude for life came from a mother that suffered from alzheimers. Afer that, I became much more conscious of life and what I could do – rather than what I couldn’t.