When God said He made us in His image, He meant that we are a Trinity like He is. He is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; we are in His Image: mind, body, spirit.
Three in one.
When we’re young, we are continuously learning new things, exploring who we are as a person, and growing to understand how our connection to other people is supposed to work. As I’m traveling this journey into the last half of my adult life, it occurs to me that these processes may be the “fountain of youth” so to speak. Obviously, nothing is stopping us from physically aging, and hopefully getting wiser, but I’m beginning to think that it’s in this wonder of growth, learning, exploring, being amazed, and curiously understanding relationships in a healthy way is what keeps us feeling young. Living young.
Why should those things stop just because we’re older?
As for our aging bodies, why should we just give in to the accepted process of aging our culture has dictated? Why should I just accept that I cannot sit on the floor to play with little kids anymore because I’ve had my 50th birthday? Is it impossible to keep my body healthy a little longer than 50? If you talk to most Americans, it seems like it’s a given that “things start falling apart.” Aren’t there actions we can take to prevent or at least prolong these natural ailments until a much older birthday than 50? I’m not advocating for artificial methods to look younger; I’m talking about natural ways to feel younger. There’s a difference.
Some things are certainly inevitable. We all experience hormonal changes that are built in…for women, it’s called menopause. For men, it’s called a mid-life crisis 😂
Oh I kid…sortof.
Men do have a change, but it’s different from ours. My point is there are things we can do to help our body age gracefully. In doing so, we increase (possibly even greatly increase) our chances of enjoying the joie de vivre more than we would if we felt terrible all the time.
So I am going to begin writing posts to share what I’ve learned about all these things. Because while having your mind and spirit in alignment with what is true is of infinite and eternal importance (quite literally), if we neglect our physical body, we not only shorten our lifespan, but we unknowingly reduce our quality of life. And that’s where my focus is in this season.
One of the first things I learned is to listen to your body. Pay attention. Years ago, I went to see my AMAZING chiropractor. I’ve been seeing her most of the last 20 years. She noticed that my occipital bone (at the base of my skull) needs to be adjusted each time I see her. I told her that even before the pain begins in my neck and shoulder, I can tell when it’s off because I’ll get a little bump on my skin in the area. She said, “Oh, you’re paying attention!”
So guess what I did? I got curious, did a little research, and learned a way to adjust that bone myself that prevents or corrects the pain when I need to. It literally takes one minute about every 3 weeks to do. When I told her about it, she was ecstatic for me (which is one of the many reasons I adore her as a medical professional).
Our bodies give us signals, if we’ll pay attention to them. When we do, we can address the issue – which usually requires some curious questioning, thinking outside the box, and a little research. If we’re willing to pay attention and then be diligent to do these things, we can greatly improve our quality of life!
When we feel good, we find more energy for the things that matter.
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