“If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we are not really living. Growth demands a temporary surrender of security.” Gail Sheehy could not have said this better. As women, we thrive on security. We desire it in our marriages, our friendships, our finances, and our spirits. Within that security lays an innate drive to be able to say at the end of the day, “It’s all good.” We want to have it all and be able to do it all but often times, that desire comes with a price we pay and don’t even know it.
You see, the beauty and goal of being able to say we have it all is to also be able to enjoy it once we get there. Yes, we have a conscious knowledge that we will never really “arrive” because our lives are a journey and not a destination, but at some point don’t we all just crave to be able to say we are enjoying that journey? The truth is we often won’t admit we have this thought. If we do, it’s usually in passing at dinner with the girls or in our silent, screaming thoughts throughout our days. We want it but we just don’t think it’s possible.
As women, we must learn to cultivate our health well! I’m using well in the adverbial sense and the noun sense; the adverb use indicates we must learn the art of creating a sustainable space in our full, busy schedules often, to ensure we stay committed and strong on the journey. No one leaves on a journey unprepared who truly values the destination. As women, it is important to our co-workers, our spouses, our friends, and our community that we learn what we need to be able to continually give. For some, it may be an hour-long massage every two weeks. For others, it may be a trip to the lake or a full weekend of shopping alone. Whatever it is for you, learn to cultivate, protect, and most of all, demand it. As the mothers of the earth, the women among men, and the wives, sisters, daughters, and lovers, we have the right to maintain our health well also.