Restarting: A Gift

For a long time now,  I had been having increasing trouble walking. It is like my leg muscles did not want to work. I walked, purposefully willing each and every step.  I didn’t know what was wrong, and was working too much to make an appointment to find out.  There were days that it was better, but most of the time, if I sat down, I didn’t know how long it would take me to stand up again. I would slowly unbend as though I were very old.

Right after Easter I either got the flu or my body reacted to the Easter food. Every muscle hurt in a very strange way, like that science fiction plot where Kevlar unites with one’s muscles from a freak accident. Breathing hurt. My muscles didn’t want to stretch. I had a fever and severe stomach flu symptoms. It scared me. Someone said I looked yellow. I would have gone to the emergency room if my temperature didn’t go down.  For three days I hardly ate anything but, concerned about being hydrated, I drank quite a bit of hibiscus tea.

When the “flu” was over, the elasticity in my muscles was back! It had been months upon months, but now  I could easily stand up again and walk and still can with the occasional problem after I’ve eaten the wrong thing, but it is so much better.   The other day I couldn’t find my car because I’d walked farther than I thought I could. Whatever it was that had been making my muscles act like old fiber was cleaned out of my system.

Sharing this with a friend, she said that she’d been on the Whole 30 diet and had the same result. It’s amazing how what we eat does to us, even if it doesn’t seem that unhealthy.  I used to be on a food combining diet which was mostly low carb. When I was on it I was the happiest and healthiest I’d ever been in my life. My moodiness was gone. My focus was stronger.  It has taken me years to get back to this because of temptation… but through no effort of my own, my addiction to carbs was gone. My body re-set from sugar addiction and I did nothing.  It was a gift. Did it hurt?  It hurt badly.  But it also healed. And after that my body has been craving what it needs, not what it is addicted to.

There are so many things to take from this, and you can take whichever way it speaks to you or find a meaning I never thought of. If you do, please share that with me.  1) Some problems are easily helped with nutrition. The answer to feeling better may be so much easier than you think. 2) Experiences that seem absolutely horrible can be blessings. Being cleaned out is painful. But it is worth it. This goes for, not just the physical, but all aspects of who we are. 3) We don’t have to work hard for everything. Some things are gift. I had tried ten years for the discipline to reset my body off of carb addiction. Now and then I’d do it.  This time, it was done for me. And I am so grateful.  Some things are gift. I don’t recommend not eating for three days, but that was given to me.  4) If we fail at something, and we try again, we are farther ahead than we would be if we didn’t try. So many people treat things like New Year’s resolutions. If we break it, we’ve broken it. No. If I eat healthy and then don’t, I’m still ahead of where I would have been. The same works for virtue development.  So many people just give up. No. Keep trying and asking for help too.  It isn’t a fail and you’re done type of  life.  Any little bit of a good thing helps us.

The main takeaway for me was number three. Some things are gift. Years of trying, and it was given to me.  No detox, no elimination diet, just reset.  It doesn’t mean I don’t need to learn more discipline. It doesn’t mean I don’t fail. It just means that I can walk.

May your day be blessed and full of amazing gifts you don’t expect. Right hear and now, I am praying for you.

May God bless your day.