I don’t know if it’s because I’m getting older but I have been thinking more about what I’d like to do with the rest of my life. Of course none of us know how long we have, but I figure while I’m alive, I’d like to live my life with the highest quality I can. And I’d like to accomplish and fulfill my dreams. I might as well give it my best shot.
I am reminded of a lesson I learned a long time ago about the vineyard owner and his three workers. Before going away, he gave each of his three workers some money and he advised them to act wisely with this money.
The story continues to say that the first worker took his share and invested it. The second buried it under a tree for safe keeping and the third spent it. I have always found this story inspirational. I believe that each of us have energy, talents and gifts to give in this world and what we decide to do with them matters. We can hide them away, we can waster them or we can invest them.
It matters in terms of what kind of life we end up living. And I for one, whenever I “go”, want to have given everything I have. This is a primal motivation for me and whenever I get off track, it helps to bring me back into focus.
In times of stress and overwhelm, we can be blown off course while sailing the metaphorical seas. In times of stress and overwhelm, we have a unique system that helps us survive. This “survival mode” involves aspects of our nervous system, hormones, and circulation although it can be summed up as an “energy-saving mode”.
The body’s energy contracts so as not to spend too much energy. If we’re in chronic survival mode, we’re more likely to hide or waste our energy, talents and gifts. This is why that even though survival mode is a necessary part of life, it is the worst way to live your life in general.
What we can end up doing is perpetuating survival mode, where it becomes a habit and we don’t notice anymore that we are actually holding ourselves back. Less energy, less vitality, less positive and regenerating emotions are all too often blamed on “old age”.
Our defences and remnants of trauma can become like the walls of a castle. First put up for protection, if we habitually live from survival mode, these defences keep us from expanding our energy, putting effort into goals and dreams and they turn a technicolour life to gray. If you’re in stuck in survival mode, life becomes a same old-same old life with LESS of everything, including the good stuff.
We have less energy to heal, to recover, to bounce back and to enjoy and create our lives.
If you feel that you’re in survival mode and you wish your experience of life to be MORE, consider not only NeuroSpinal Optimization care but also the various workshops that we offer at the Happy Spine.