We understand the term responsible
but do we fully understand what that entails?
We know we should be responsible for our thoughts, words, and
actions, but are we? Do make choices in life that will manifest
health and well-being? Or do we make excuses so that we avoid
being accountable for lives? And what does being responsible
to and for self actually require? Maybe we could be more responsible
if we viewed the word as two words: Response Able. Response
able indicates that you are prepared to respond no matter what
the condition or circumstance. To be response able
means you have to be healthy.
Obviously being responsible for self must be the primary objective
in all in we do for it is through the care and nurturing of
ourselves that we can care and nurture others and, in turn,
the planet. Contrary to myth this is not a selfish concept;
it is a fact. We are only able to assist others when we are
at out best. It isn’t a matter of which came first: the
chicken or the egg? In this case the point is that the chicken
has to be healthy and vital to lay an egg and teach the chick
that hatches from that egg how to live.
I chose this topic because I have recently been speaking with
parents who tell me that they feed their children organic, non-genetically
modified food, make certain they take supplements and get outside
for plenty of fresh air, exercise and connecting to nature but
they don’t practice what they preach. Instead they make
a quick stop by a fast food place for lunch, or throw a microwave
dinner together as their meal while their children eat specially
prepared veggies and organic turkey patties. For breakfast they
grab a sugar-laden pastry they popped out of the toaster, but
they make certain that the offspring have fruit and warm grain
cereals.
I probably would have shaken my head and gone on except the
percentage of parents that were admitting to this behavior was
sky high. Over 70% of the parents I interviewed felt they were
doing best for their children by not taking care of themselves,
which is what that boils down to.
When I pushed the topic and asked why the felt the children
would benefit from a routine like this I was repeated told that
they believed the kids would have a better start in life if
they learned how to eat properly, use supplements correctly
and exercise in nature rather than being constantly plugged
into an ‘idiot box’. They are right on all counts.
Except the parents misplaced the fact that in order for their
children to grow up and be the very best they can be, the kids
need someone to always be there to teach them… someone
who is strong and vital and setting an example.
Were the parent’s responses coming from the little quilt
button that we all have that resides deep within our consciousness?
You know, the one that tells us that in order for those around
us to be their best we must suffer? Or was it something less
about our psyche and more about conditioning? After several
meetings and long discussions with the families I reached the
conclusion it was a combination of the above. And when I brought
up the point that they were falling into that time weary parental
trap of ‘Do as I say and not as I do’, their attention
seemed to spark. It brought back something most of us have heard
at some point in our lives from someone we trusted and looked
up to, someone we wanted to mimic.
Then I brought up the underlying issue that should concern them
more than anything else… being response able. I explained
this if one is responsible to self then they are prepared and
response able under any conditions. But if they are not taking
care of their dietary needs and their nutritional requirements
then they were not being responsible to them or their children,
which would prevent them at some point from being response able.
To hone the point I told them about something I witnessed recently
while in Rome, Italy. A woman and her little girl were staying
at the same hotel. The mother was obviously very ill with a
flu bug going around but the child was healthy and running wildly
all over the lobby. The poor mother didn’t have the energy
to chase after the child and couldn’t speak without coughing
so violently that her entire body convulsed. I was sitting behind
her and observing as she tried to call the little girl back
to her. Her voice was a harsh whisper with no force. The little
girl was headed down the circular staircase that led to the
pool area.
I turned to the woman who was struggling to her feet and offered
to retrieve the little person before she escaped the confines
of the building. The mother nodded, slumped down in her chair,
and took a bite of a sugar-crusted pastry. I must have raised
my eyebrow because she said, “For energy”.
I caught up the child as she was exiting the doors and delivered
her safely to her mother who was hunched over a glass of milk
and her pastries.
I started the conversation by asking what she was doing for
her health. She coughed her way through the word, “Nothing.”
And followed that with “I’ll get over it.”
Little beads of sweat dotted her forehead and her eyes were
sunk deep into her head. I suggested she get some Vitamin C,
drink warm clear liquids like green tea, and get to bed. The
little one was bouncing around; filled with energy and life.
I asked how come she hadn’t caught the bug.
I cringed when her mother said, “Oh, she eats only healthy
foods and takes her vitamins everyday.”
I couldn’t help myself. Looking at the array of pastry
and cookies before her, I asked, “Do you?”
In a raspy voice she replied, “No. Her health is more
important.”
She had allowed herself to become ill by not being responsible
for self and in turn had was not response able for her daughter.
I knew that the mother may have thought those pastries were
giving her energy, but that any energy derived from them would
be short lived and the sugar would further promote her weakened
immune system. I knew the milk wasn’t helping the congestion
in her chest and the coughing was further depleting her energy.I
realize this is more editorializing than I normally contribute
but it is a problem I see developing more and more and it’s
a problem that can be circumvented.
It begins by taking care of self, which begins with how you
fuel and care for your being. If you are your optimum self you
can be response able for you, your family and friends, and the
world in which we live.
Brit Elders is a teacher of how to
nourish the Whole Body, concept for living. For more information
you can reach Brit anytime at: brit@MyNaturalLink.com.
Brit is also an author and documentary film maker and host of
“Cooking in the Lite” radio show monthly, and can
be heard on www.ShirleyMacLaine.com She is also the co-owner
of the wonderful web site www.mynaturallink.com
