Pause All New Year’s Resolutions Until you Read This!
I really want to see you around in 2025. So, listen to what I have to say.
This Sunday, while in church, I noticed something quite sad.
As the pastor preached, celebration for the end of 2023 filled the seats. Smiles. Relief. Another year has come and gone. Until I saw something.
A middle-aged gentleman in a wheelchair with his left leg elevated, and a bandage wrapped over what appeared to be a stump in place of a foot, reminded me of what I used to see when I worked in the medical field.
Here’s another individual who most likely had to have an amputation due to neglecting his Type 2 Diabetes, maybe? I didn’t ask. But it could have been anything. Now wheelchair bound for no telling how long. A sad sight.
Health Tip: If you are Type 2 Diabetic, vow to check your sugars AT LEAST once a day. Getting high numbers? It SHOULD say, “You need to get serious!”
When we see people in worse situations, we often feel blessed that we are not in their shoes. A blatant reminder that things could always be worse!
This year, I’ve seen very obese people. I’m talking morbidly obese. I’ve seen people who were out of breath like they’d just run a marathon, but hadn’t. I’ve seen people smoking outside my work. And an aunt dying of cancer.
Life is short, folks.
The clock ticks as your time counts down on the minutes left of your life. Don’t live it frivolously. Begin learning how to better take care of your body.
Forget the gym memberships and fad diets that whisper empty promises of overnight transformations. This New Year, let’s make a resolution that whispers something far more powerful: a vow to listen to our bodies, to be their trusted stewards, their fiercest advocates.
Our bodies are not machines to be sculpted or chiseled. They are symphony orchestras of muscle and bone, landscapes of nerves and tissues, whispering wisdom we’ve spent the year, maybe even a lifetime, ignoring. They’ve carried us through laughter and tears, through marathons and midnight pizza binges, always humming a quiet melody of needs and desires.
This year, let’s turn up the volume. Let’s ditch the self-loathing mantras and the toxic comparisons. Instead, let’s tune into the subtle tremors of our bodies, the way a skipped beat in our heartbeat might signal hidden stress, and the way tightness in our shoulders whispers unspoken anxieties.
Our bodies speak to us every single day…
Listen to the cravings that aren’t just for sugar and fat, but for nourishing meals that will fuel our spirits. Hear the pleas of our skin, parched from neglect, begging for a touch of hydrating love. Pay attention to the language of sleep, the way restless nights scream for boundaries and quiet solitude.
Our bodies are not battlegrounds to conquer; they are sanctuaries to cherish. Let’s move away from punitive exercise and embrace movement that feels like joy, like celebration. Let our bodies find rhythm in a brisk walk under the open sky, in the graceful sway of a dance, in the strength built carrying a picnic basket to a meadow.
Health Tip: Park a good distance further away, so that you walk more!
Listen to the stories our bodies tell through aches and pains. They are not enemies to be silenced, but messengers pleading for attention. A sore back might beg for better posture, a headache whisper about dehydration, a stomachache cry for emotional comfort. Let’s become translators of these aches, healers who address the root cause, not just the symptom.
This New Year, let’s make a revolution, not of resolutions. Let’s listen to the orchestra within, tending to each instrument with love and respect. Let’s move, eat, sleep, and breathe in ways that feel like a whispered thank you to the bodies that have carried us through life. For when we truly listen, we discover that transformation isn’t about reshaping ourselves, but about becoming the most vibrant, authentic versions of who we already are. And that, my friends, is a symphony worth cherishing every note of.
Health Tip: SO many health conditions can be partly attributed to dehydration. From the way our skin looks and feels, to the way our kidneys function. Damon Wayan’s, the famous actor, was recently on a television show admitting he drank 1 GALLON OF WATER per day. That's about 8–16oz. Bottles of water per day, thereabouts. Read my article on the importance of water. Drink enough water until your urine is almost clear!
Step away from the scales and the self-help books. Quit being critical of your body, and start LOVING your body. It has, after all, worked tirelessly to get you this far. This year, let’s listen to the melody of our bodies, dance to their rhythm, and become the conductors of our own well-being. Let’s make this New Year a resolution of reverence, a promise to love and listen, because the greatest transformation begins with the simplest act of respect — listening to the wisdom whispered by our own bodies.
I love helping my readers to care for their bodies and understand the daily harms we bring to them. Many of them, we are often just oblivious to. I’ve always said that we have a gut-feeling, known as intuition, that seems to let us know we’ve gone astray sometimes. Most times we simply ignore it. In 2024, and beyond, we need to listen to this one body we’ve been given. We will get no replacement. If you mistreat it, it will certainly end you!
You are a miraculous being made by a miraculous God! Happy New Year!
