WEGO Health: Open a Book...

Day 18: Choose a book and open it to a random page and point to a phrase. Use that phrase to get you writing today.

From The Hunger Games:

I want to run away. Disappear into the woods like I did that day they brought the burn victim to our house. Go and hunt while my mother and Prim attend to what I have neither the skill nor the courage to face. But there’s no one here but me. I try to capture the calm demeanor my mother assumes when handling particularly bad cases.

Putting aside the actual story here (have you read it or the series, btw?), what I glean from this paragraph are the times we’re faced with something we don’t want to, especially when there’s no one else around to rely on.

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Oh, how many times I’ve wanted to stick my head in the sand or run away too. Sometimes I do turn the other way and pretend to not notice and continue to live in my happy bubble. Other times, I’m a bull and those in my way had better watch out!

I wish I always had the courage and the know-how for each difficulty I’m faced with and not be an ostrich (I know, don’t we all??). I don’t like to disrupt my world and deal with the ____ (aftermath, consequences, embarrassment, questions, chaos, loss, etc.). But I know, even the “brave” people have their moments too.

One time though, I did go through a dark period in my life -- darkest days experienced. Thankfully, I had one special person holding my hand through it all but aside from that person, I had NO ONE. I couldn’t run away even if I tried, let alone bury my head in the sand. It was tough asking for help from others only to get a kick in the ass instead. A kick-you-when-you’re-down sort of thing. To this day, I still don’t understand why things happened the way they did but I learned so much from it all and realized I’m strong enough to rise above and be happier and more solid than before.

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I think one of the reasons we tend to run away from things (besides not wanting to deal with it) is we just need some extra moments to gather the courage or have a game plan to tackle our challenges. Life is a learn-as-you-go, gaining experience, skills and courage, for that matter.

Even when it comes to changing your eating habits or adopting a healthier regime can take courage and definitely needs some pre-planning in order to do it right, safely, and successfully.

For many in the raw food community (and vegan/vegetarian), they’ve had to have the courage or the confidence to deal with those who think they’re being weird (beyond health reasons). The questions, the looks, the “tsk tsks” or whatever. Why is that anyway? It goes for both sides, though. I think everyone should be understanding and respectful of each other’s choices and if you don’t like it, move on; it’s not your life to judge.

But anyway, it takes courage to be different, to keep doing what is best for you and to face challenges head on. It’s funny how we’re encouraged to be different but knocked down when we are. I respect those who do in spite of that. I applaud those who take their health (and their children’s) seriously, follow their intuition, and do what is best by doing the research and asking questions and keep at it.

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We all have reasons to run away from things or to pass it off to someone else but when we buck up (or as others say, put your big girl panties on) and deal with it we realize how strong and knowledgeable we really are. We fumble still but there’s nothing like taking charge of ____ (your life, situation, challenge, health, etc.) and seeing the results or making things happen.