THE ULTIMATE ACT OF LOVE

When I was young I was very much aware of being a part of the healthcare system. I had weekly doctor’s appointments to control my asthma with shots. I would get a sticker with a needle on it after every visit to show the world how brave I was. Along with my daily medications, every week was the same.

The scariest of moments came in the middle of the night, an asthma attack threatening my life. My mother’s face flushed with worry as we navigated the subway to the hospital. My breath reached for every bit of oxygen it could muster. I stood on the platform absorbing the rush of air as each express train whizzed by. I felt myself become conscious. The smell of steel mixed in with burnt cables and urine tickled my nose. I could feel my mother’s ring press against my hand as she held tight. The subway bench was littered with hardened blobs of gum. As the little bit of air came up my throat, my tongue widened in my mouth hoping to save the nitrogen on its taste buds.

The subway arrived at its slow pace as if it knew it held my life in its hands. The doors lazily opened. My mother’s grip tightened as we walked toward a seat closest to where the conductor was stationed. Her eyes gazed down at me, showing me everything would be ok. Nothing like a mother’s love.

We walked into the hospital, a loud snore filling up the emergency waiting room. The leathery hard chairs gleamed with germs, giving off a shine. A nurse sat behind a glass partition asking for information she never really wanted to hear. Her level of concern was a 1 at best. Considering how close I was to death, this struck me as strange. This type of experience kept bringing me to the question:

“Why am I going to this place to feel better when those who have taken on the responsibility for taking care of me don’t care?”

This question is what has led me to my current journey of discovering the power of healing myself.

At an early age I understood the importance of making choices that would benefit healing. However, I didn’t know what it looked like. My environment didn’t practice the inner wisdom needed to heal so we used the resources available to us. We trusted everything told to us by doctors and even media. Putting our health in someone else’s hands was diminishing our intuition, which is one of the important tools for healing. I’m not saying we don’t need to listen to doctors, as they are obviously necessary, but we need to start listening to ourselves.

We need to tap into the following: 1. Listen to our bodies, what they need and what they are trying to communicate. 2. Tap into what we’re feeling. Sometimes emotions manifest themselves in the body when they are not being expressed. 3. Make a commitment to our health and integrate what we learn. Without integration, our health is not getting what it needs to perform.

Everything we need to heal ourselves is within us. When we commit to taking care of ourselves the impact can be enormous. The ripple effect is how we feel about ourselves and how we feel about our world. We begin to heal ourselves when we take the time to know who we are and what we need. And this is the ultimate act of love.

one love! David

© David Medina