How do you tell time? Do you have something that ticks & tocks? I rely on a number of time-telling devices...my car, my computer, my oven/stove, my new iPhone 4S (yay!), my watch. None of these make clock-like noise. They are all silent. There is no rhythmic ticking by of seconds to keep me up at night or distract me while I'm on the computer or deep in thought. But they keep me moving forward... they help get me out the door, encouraging me by showing I'm improving on not being late all the time, and humbling me by showing I'm not on time all the time, either. These time-telling devices have transformed my routine and as a result, have made me a better person, I think.
The most important time-telling device I have, though, is my body.
This past year, my body has begun doing some funky, weird stuff. I won't bombard you with details, really, but I'll give you an example. It's stuff it's never done before. Like all of a sudden, two weeks ago, I broke out in a terrible rash on the back of two fingers and parts on my wrist & other forearm which looked like I had a chemical burn of some sort (I did not) which was painful and itchy. After a week of it not improving and, in fact, getting worse, I went to a dermatologist and was told I have eczema. I have never had eczema in my life. Why start now?
Specifics can be narrowed down to stress, an allergic reaction to something I either ate or was exposed to, hot water, and frequent hand-washing (got kids? got dishes?). For me, though, as I look at the broader picture, I see something different. It isn't that my body IS reacting to these things. It's that my body is NOW reacting to these things. What has changed? I've had stress for years. I haven't been allergic to anything as far as I'm aware. My eating patterns haven't changed and I haven't been exposed to chemicals new to me - - they are ones I've used and to which I have never reacted. I repeat, what's changed?
I'm OLDER. My body is not ticking but it is TALKING. It is telling me things are changing and I need to get with the program. I can't do things the same way I've always done them because something in my body is going to rebel. Be a night owl? Nnnnnope. Eat ice cream and not gain weight? BIG FAT NOPE. Lose weight without exercising? Uh, no... Spicy jalapeno chips? Hello, heartburn! I look at my new eczema and tell myself maybe I am NOW allergic to that which I wasn't allergic before. Maybe my stress has caught up with me or at least now, my body is handling it differently. Maybe now I truly need to pay more attention to what I put into my body because it needs to use everything more efficiently.
It's like when when I was a kid, I LOVED having a messy room because it was easier to take care of. Having a messy room meant I didn't have to clean it. It wasn't ideal but it worked for me. It did NOT work for my mom, however, and I was always being yelled at to clean it up. Now that I am a mom and I see my kids' messy room, it drives me nuts! I tell them to clean it up and feel so relieved when it's clear and I can walk through there. I've grown up. The mess bothers me now.
THAT'S how my BODY is. The "mess" bothers it now, too. It has grown up and now it wants to de-clutter! My body is talking to me, telling me it's time to de-clutter what I put into it and how I schedule its calendar. I need to sleep more, exercise more, laugh more, and eat less. In other words, my body clock isn't ticking with sound, but it is TALKING loud and clear!
How about you? Is your body telling you anything?
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