‘How would you like to feel?’
I saw this written on the side of some hand wash. It may be a slightly ambitious point of thought for hand wash, but nevertheless it did make me think.
It is easy to disregard the luxury of feeling well, when we are feeling well. When there is nothing niggling or following you around to send you to the drawer of painkillers, when you have enough energy to get you through the day and when you can walk and move where you want to without being punished by pain.
When we are feeling well in our body, the mind has the freedom to think about all the other stuff that takes up each day, and the body is (understandably) ignored.
But what if you haven’t had a luxurious pain free day for a while? What if, as soon as you wake up you are in ‘body management mode’; carefully tip toeing through your day so as not to stir the swell of pain that you know could strike at any moment?
In this scenario, I am betting the main thing on your mind is your body and your anguished desire for it to feel different.
How Would I Like to Feel?
When I thought about this for myself, I kept coming back to strength. I would like to feel strong. Not in the weightlifter sense of the word, but in the way that each area of my body is as strong as it is meant to be. So that I can use my body in every way that it was meant to be used, meaning that I can walk, garden, crouch, play sport, climb a hill, carry heavy things, lift stuff, move furniture etc and not worry that I’m going to be running for the back brace or the ice.
The way I would like to feel goes hand in hand with the lifestyle I want to be able to lead; one that involves all of these movements and others besides.
I don’t want to miss out on life, and I want to future proof myself against failing joints and weak muscles.
In order to do that I need to invest in my body now. Every single day. With a focus and a mindfulness about what positions I am asking the body to be in and what loads I am placing upon it. I especially need to think about it when my body is feeling ok, as only then can I use it in all it’s brilliance and get the rewards from more whole body movement.
I don’t want to leave it too late before I figure out how I want to feel.
So how about you?
How would you like to feel?