Days go by slowly, and the weeks go by fast; look up and the year is almost gone. This fast-forward motion can also happen with health-related issues that need to be addressed. We may see it, acknowledge it and set a goal for change; soon our goals and deadlines come and go, and we sink deeper into our issues and further away from any sense of control and or ability to change them. Our personal integrity becomes damaged as we sink deeper into the issue and away from hope. Typically, the quick fixes come into play next. We begin covering up the symptoms without actually doing the work to remove them. Soon we are so separated from the beginning issues that it is hard to know where to start again.

These downward spirals are common and changes in health are a part of life. It is up to us to devote the time it takes to listen to our bodies. If you have tried, failed, and lost hope, you are not alone. Most of us have been there at some point. However, life is ever evolving, and something you may not have been ready to accomplish in the past, you may be prepared to tackle now. If you are interested in exploring the possibility of reaching your health-related goals, let’s explore them now. 

When it comes to changes and commitments, I like to start with the end in mind. I encourage you to find a pen and paper. 

-On this paper create a future date. A date where you see yourself and your health-related goals meeting their full potential. Is it a month from now? Is it three months? How about a year? Only you will know. 

-Next, close your eyes and take a deep breath. Try to envision what this future self looks like and feels like. How do you feel, sleep, and move? Are you energetic and lively? Where are you located? Are you in your home, outside, or on vacation? After you take a moment with this, please journal about what you have envisioned and write it from your future-self perspective. Journal as if you were writing on this date you have set in the future. 

-Then follow up with any advice your future-self has to give to your current-self. What is it that only you will know when your goals will be complete? If you were to receive a phone call from your future-self today, what would that phone call sound like? What advice would you receive?

Next, on fresh sheet of paper:

• Write down your current goals.
• Write down what has inhibited you from accomplishing these goals.
• Debunk these previous inhibitions. Ask yourself why those things have stopped you in the past. Then write down why they will not stop you this time. 
• What is it costing you to not begin this goal? (Example: cost of Dr. bills per month, massages, physical therapy, time with friends and family) Then take that number times 12. Once you have that number, you know what your inability to begin is costing you: financially, physically, and emotionally. 

It is easier to sit in discomfort and our current state of pain than it is to move toward the fear and the uncertainty of change. However, if we have the whole picture; the reasons why we are not accomplishing our goals and what not acting is costing us, we are more apt to hold ourselves accountable and live with integrity. 

Alright, so where do you begin? You have your goals set. You see yourself accomplishing them in the future, but what is the next step? As an herbal practitioner, I was taught that healing always begins in the gut. The digestive tract is the source of our nutritional intake and the ability to remove our waste products. Every person has a different set of requirements which feed and support their body. The digestive system is the best way to begin to listen to the individual language of your body and start taking steps forward for personal wellness. 

What is the best way to discover your individual nutritional needs? A food diary is an option. With a food diary you can document what you are eating and how those foods make you feel physically and emotionally. After a few days of this documentation, you will begin to see patterns. It is in those patterns where you will begin to understand how your body talks. For example, if you receive sinus congestion the following day after eating ice cream, your body is talking. If you have brain fog after eating lunch, your body is talking. It is up to you to listen. The more you can identify what is nourishing and what is harmful for you personally, the more empowered you become in your health. 

Wellness and health have so much to do with making time, listening, and moving towards those goals of your future self. It takes time to learn the language of health. Pay attention and see what your body has to say; you may be surprised. 

By Megan Fuhrman-Wheeler
CCH, CCN, Flower Essence Practitioner
Owner, MEGAN & CO. Herbal Apothecary
www.meganandco.com