Word for the Year: Healing

 

In keeping with a tradition I began in 2010, I am using this space to share a word that I hope will hold significance for the coming year. Often the word I choose has to do with something I have gone through, or something that I am in the midst of going through, that I would like to improve on in the coming year. This year is no different.

As I thought about where I am at, the word that kept coming to me was healing.

heal
[heel]
verb (used with object)

1. to make healthy, whole, or sound; restore to health; free from ailment. 

2. to bring to an end or conclusion, as conflicts between people or groups, usually with the strong implication of restoring former amity; settle; reconcile:
3. to free from evil; cleanse; purify

In a very physical sense, over the course of the last several months I have been seeking treatment for pain that doesn't seem to have a cause, and won't go away. When you are managing pain for a prolonged period, you begin to notice that it affects all areas of your life. And it is time I stop letting my pain do that. 

The only things that seem to be the root of my primary pain are 1) an undiagnosed injury from playing soccer in the spring, and 2) carrying around my toddler for so long. Currently, I can really only pick him up when necessary, and that has been hard for both of us. A secondary pain I'm dealing with is in my foot/shin which never truly healed from a nasty fall I took while hiking back in September.

I have had X-rays, been to physical therapy, stopped exercising, tried deep water aerobics and tai chi and a stationery bike, used a TENs unit, taken herbs like turmeric for the inflammation, started massage, and finally cautiously restarted my exercise program. In the new year I will be meeting with a Sports Medicine practice to try to pinpoint what is going on in an effort to improve my quality of life. Also, I am praying for kids that sleep through the night which will allow me to try to get caught up on rest, and also focusing on things like improving my water intake and the kinds of foods I eat.

Outside of the physical, I think there is always room to heal relationships, meaning making changes in myself that may have driven any wedges between me and others over the years. It means making an effort on my attitude with my kids and Daniel, specially by working to have more patience and grace, and to show kindness regardless of how I am feeling physically. 

And finally I think taking stock of where I am at spiritually is never a bad way to start the new year. 

So, for this year I am focusing on my personal health and how it affects me and those closest to me, as well as the relationships that are secondary in my life.

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. 
Proverbs 17:22

Words from previous years: 

Fortitude {2010} │ Adaptation {2011} │ Patience {2012} │Deliberate {2013}

 Joy {2014} │ Peace {2015} │  Release {2016} │ Savor {2017}