Wellness, No Matter What

I used to use the hashtag #WellnessOverWeather a lot, and often referred to #ChooseToBeWell as I tried to inspire both within myself and in others the motivation to push through the difficult moments and to seek to do the things that make us well.

This has taken a whole new meaning for me on board the Africa Mercy as so many challenges would seem to be a barrier to wellbeing here: The tiny spaces, the air quality which makes being outside at times really not a wise choice, the illnesses that spread rapidly in tight quarters onboard a ship etc....So the thought of choosing wellness over weather really is no longer appropriate as now I need to overcome more than just rain, snow, heat or cold! Now I need to overcome all the other obstacles too and chose to get on my yoga mat or hit the treadmill anyway.....It becomes so easy to talk yourself out of exercising or making healthy food choices....It is so easy to convince yourself that when things are hard you can just give up....

So I wanted to take a moment to share with you what has really inspired me this week and really given me a whole new motivation. There are two specific events that changed my heart and mind this week:

First I saw two beautiful orthopaedic patients doing their rehab down the hallway by the ward...Their legs were still cast in a wide legged stance and they were needing to learn to walk and use their muscles with walkers to begin strengthening their legs. (They will later be re-casted with their legs straight again - I do not work in ortho, so I don’t understand all the details of it, but these patients are having their legs straightened. When they came on board their legs were bowed - mostly from malnourishment and bone deformity.) These children were SUCH a massive inspiration to me as they were laughing and racing against one another, with an incredible effort to just move one foot in front of the other. There was barely enough space for them to manage around one another, but never mind, they were getting it done and proudly doing so! So this thought stuck with me all week.....that I am so incredibly blessed to even be able to use my legs, and I need to be continually strengthening and using them well. So for those who can’t run - I will run, for those who hurt through their rehab - I will hurt through my cardio, for those who don’t want to do one more set of stick exercises - I will do one more minute on the rower because I don’t want to do that either! In honour of all the brave souls who are struggling, I will push through and will be praying for their strength to push through also.

The second event that took my breath away was observing several family members moving through their prayers at the bedside of their child on the ward. The caregiver (maybe a parent or grandparent or sibling etc) sleeps under the bed of the patient on the ward. The bed spaces are very tight and you can just barely get through between the beds. (The above photo is approved for use by AFM, and shows a little glimpse into what the wards look like). These families sit in this small spaces, or in some cases do their prayers in this very narrow space between the beds. This was what really touched my heart - the dedication and devotion - never complaining, and never for a moment letting the lack of space get in their way.....Wow, I have a lot to learn from this experience. I let my own lack of space stop me from rolling out my yoga mat. I let my fear of others seeing me stop me from practicing in public. I let my own need for the “perfect” environment keep me from doing a LOT of things....So much to learn.

So I share this with you to maybe motivate you as well - What is getting in your way? What is stopping you from being devoted to your wellbeing? What choices do you need to make today to bring back that appreciation for the gift of your life and for your ability to move freely?

Maybe my new hashtag will be #WellnessNoMatterWhat

“Let whatever you do today be born from a heart of gratitude” 
~ Namaste

The Many Expressions of Gratitude

For many of my American friends, you will have just celebrated Thanksgiving and I am sure that gratitude is fresh on your mind as you have spent time with family and are now preparing for the Christmas holidays.

I have talked of gratitude before on this blog, but I bring up this topic again as I feel that when you live a life that focuses on blessings you are living more in-line with the good energies of the world. I personally feel that if we could teach more gratitude-based approaches to living and viewing the world we would be a lot more joyful in our daily lives. I think sometimes it’s easy for people to focus on the negative and the things that are going wrong in their lives and it can overshadow the many blessings that they have. Our society has grown more in this direction over the years where people want to live a perfectly pain-free, struggle-free life and want everything to always go well all the time. When this doesn’t happen they become disappointed in life and despair of the future.

Of course, there are many expressions of gratitude, but for me I had never seen such a raw expression of it as I have seen through the eyes of the people here on the Africa Mercy. Patients who have endured an lifetime of suffering and struggle to get where they are today and who have undergone massive surgeries and recoveries - and who are literally singing with joy! To be a witness to this has truly changed my life, and I've only been here for a few days. To express in words these changes to my heart is actually really hard to do. I feel like prior to coming here I really did not have a full understanding of gratitude. In only a few days I have learned in a new and refreshing way what it means to truly sing praises to God for even the smallest miracles....to offer up thanksgiving and gratitude for the simple things like water and shelter....to see true compassion and love for one another in the actions of so many is honestly overwhelming.

If ever you were concerned about the world and thought that there was no hope, or no more love out there, or that people no longer care about each other - if ever you despaired for the future of our universe....come to Africa and see....there is so much love here. There is so much gratitude....There is so much compassion being expressed through these ministries here. It is unlike anything I have ever been witness too. It has inspired me beyond words to be a more grateful person. To not take for granted the many blessings that I have been given.

I encourage you as you move into the Christmas season to take time each day to offer up gratitude for your life. (And not just thankfulness for getting a park close to the shopping entrance, or getting a short line at the register! Haha) but true thankfulness for the massive blessings that we have in our lives every day...for the clean water we drink, for the healthcare services that we are provided with, for the jobs that provide for our families, for the schools for our children, for the freedom to live whatever life we choose to live.....The list is endless. I have NO idea why I was born into the life I was, but I am so extremely grateful, and I pray that I will have an opportunity to express that gratitude through the love and compassion that I share with others.

"With every breath I offer up gratitude." ~ Namaste