Do you feel like you’re not doing enough to take care of your health?  Maybe you’ve already given up white sugar, but you think you should give up caffeine too.  Maybe you’re already walking 2 miles a day, but you know you should add some cardiovascular exercise as well.  And so it goes. The list is endless, or so it seems.

What if you are already getting all the care you need, right now?

There’s always more we can do.  There’s always a further goal we didn’t achieve even at the moment we just completed our personal best.  

I think it’s true that in general we all underestimate the care that we need to thrive.  I think that in general it will benefit a person to receive more care than they have been.  In general we could all use more sleep and more fresh fruits and vegetables…but I’d like to make space a moment to celebrate everything you have been doing.  It’s so easy to always be looking toward that farther goal, all those things we really “should” add or subtract from our lives because we know that’s what we need to do to be healthy.  What if it were a true statement to say that right now, you are doing enough to care for yourself?

No matter what you do, there will always be something more you could be doing.  

What if, for a moment, we set down the burden of always needing to do more and instead celebrate, “Right now I am doing enough to care for myself.”  Is there a sense of freedom and lightness? Perhaps a sense of ease?

Instead of going out for a walk because we should, because we have to have our 30 minutes of exercise a day in order to be healthy, What if we go out for a walk, because the fresh air in our lungs and on our skin gives us joy?  Because it’s pleasant to feel our bodies move after being cooped up indoors and pleasant to hear the birds calling and other outdoor sounds?

If we’re not burdened by the weight of doing what we should do, don’t we get more space to enjoy what’s really gratifying in these things?  Can we access the joy in the act itself? If I eat a carrot, it could be from an obligation to eat more vegetables. Or it could be a celebration of the beauty of carrots and the gifts that are placed in my garden…or maybe someone else’s garden.

Likewise if I get a massage, maybe it’ll be to get back to the absence of pain, but maybe it’s just because massage feels good and it’s a way to celebrate the wonder and the mystery of having a physical body.  It’s nice to do the things that feel good. As a friend of mine recently remarked, “It’s like food!”.  

Without the burden of “should”, we can access the joy in the activity.  By acknowledging what you’re already doing you make space to celebrate the accomplishment and see the strength of living your values.