by Jenny James, McLeans Ridges, NSW
Is life really just about the luck of the draw? When I was very young I remember being told that a friend of the family had become extremely ill. It was as if they had been struck out of the blue. Without any forewarning this disease had descended upon them. To me this seemed quite mysterious – as if there were a sort of random hit that could descend at any moment – and you escaped merely by the luck of the draw. There seemed to be no concept of health, self-care, nurturing or wellbeing – only shock and sadness at the disaster that had fallen.
I realised that over time this had developed into a way of thinking, a way of living where I could be more reckless with my health as it didn’t matter anyway – it will happen if it is destined to. There was also a feeling of fear and a sense of foreboding around this as I felt I had no say in what might happen to me. But why was I accepting this as the way it was? Didn’t I have any say in the matter? With this way of thinking, self-responsibility in any real terms was pretty much out the window.
A lot of questions arose in my mind. How do we get sick, and do we get sick before it occurs to us to look at our diet, the emotional turmoil in our life or what our body really needs in the first place? Is how much we are able to value and nurture ourselves linked to illness and disease? Is how much we value and nurture ourselves dependent on how we have been treated or hurt in life and if so, how can we break that cycle?
I did begin to desecrate myself in my later teenage years. Diet, and what I chose to ingest definitely played a role, but mostly for me I feel it was through the fostering of unhealthy relationships, aligning to others – knowing this was not true for me, and then carrying this on through my life to varying degrees to feel part of a group, to be accepted. I did not express what I truly knew and felt, and became irresponsible in many ways under the guise of wanting to appear ‘normal’ – which is interesting, because I can say that my behaviour definitely made me feel ‘odd’ – I was not comfortable in what I was creating at all!
What is self-love, self-care and nurturing? The spectrum is huge. I realised that it can be finally making the choice to move away from an abusive relationship, to having that lavender bath and feeling just what the body needs to eat in the morning. What can I do to break a cycle of self-neglect? I now know it is about finding that still place inside me, tuning in and feeling what is truly needed for myself at any point in time. I have discovered that no act of self-care is too small. It makes a huge statement in the big picture and creates new foundation to stand on.
I have found that the best medicine I can give myself is love, self-care and nurturing, learning how to truly love and nurture my body and myself. It has been something I have had to work at as it comes in ways that have never occurred to me before: I am re-discovering what true love is and what it brings.
I have realised that it first starts with me and how I am. Am I creating a day that will be stressful from the start or am I allowing my natural flow, rhythm and true knowing to lead the way? The very way I move, pick up the telephone, and how I get out of bed show me how I am setting myself up for the day. They show me how present I am, how my health and vitality will be sustained during the day and also how I will be with others. There are things that I constantly need to remind myself of. I now ask myself frequently, ‘am I bringing the true presence of the beautiful me to everything I do’? I absolutely can feel the difference – it’s beautiful, and everyone benefits, not only me!
The ground-breaking presentations given by Serge Benhayon on Esoteric Medicine and Natalie Benhayon with Esoteric Women’s Health lay this down in very practical terms and have brought for me invaluable understanding, wisdom and inspiration to the simplicity and joy of self care and nurturing. I know now that it is a choice for me to be love in activity rather than disregard in activity.
This does not mean that I will not get ill. I may, and sometimes I do. Sometimes illness does seem to appear to come out of the blue. This is about development and not perfection. For now illness and disease is a part of life – the body healing the parts of me that I have not paid attention to. But the point is that I am not under the helpless perception that I was before. I feel proactive and my life is rich with the growing love and tenderness that I feel towards myself and my wellbeing.
I can now say that I have never enjoyed ‘self responsibility’ so much. It is a joy and a pleasure to feel that I am indeed able to take care of myself as much as possible and not just to leave my wellbeing to the hand of fate. I am always learning new ways to do this as my love and awareness grows. I have been amazed how my body has responded to the call. It is like it has just been waiting for me to rise to the occasion.
We are precious and lovely – we can honour and love ourselves in every way.
The Truth about Serge Benhayon 
No act of self-care is too small … what a great expression, and I have found also that this is true, it is as if we take care of the details, the big picture takes care of itself.
The idea that any illness or disease comes out of the blue is allowing us to live an irresponsible life in regards to our own health, and in doing so we live in disrespect to all others we live and share our lives with. Not a wise thing to do but it is the reality of how a majority of people are living their lives in our nowadays society and I have been part of that too. But I have, as you Jenny, learned from the teachings and presentation from Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine, that I have to take care for myself first on all the aspects of my life, before I can care for another and can be in true service for the people I am with.
‘I know now that it is a choice for me to be love in activity rather than disregard in activity.’ Jenny the presentations by Serge Benhayon on health and Natalie Benhayon on Women’s Health have inspired me to bring loving activity into my life too and the effect has been profound. I was disregarding in the extreme, putting others needs before my own, and even neglecting myself when the family left home and I had more time on my hands. I do have osteoporosis as the result of years of self-neglect, but since giving myself loving care I know I am addressing the root cause, and that in itself is a healing. Long term I do not know what the outcome will be, but in the meantime my life is enriched by the choice to self-care.
‘…no act of self-care is too small’ because it ‘creates a new foundation to stand on.’ This is truly powerful in what it offers as a way out of a cycle of self-neglect. My quote for the day.
Mine too Cathy. I used to pride myself as being a ‘big picture’ person which was in truth an excuse to sweep the details under the carpet. More and more I am seeing that ‘God is definitely in the detail’ because each detail attended to with full attention builds a firm foundation for the next step. I am now realising that this is an evolving process.
‘I did not express what I truly knew and felt, and became irresponsible in many ways under the guise of wanting to appear ‘normal’ – which is interesting, because I can say that my behaviour definitely made me feel ‘odd’ – I was not comfortable in what I was creating at all!’ It is amazing how much we put up with under the guise of being ‘normal’. When deep down we know that it’s not a true way to live.
Jenny, I love how you have simply presented self care as both an act of self responsibility and self love. Self care is something that has felt like an awkward, selfish, foreign concept to me for most of my life but one thing is undoubted by me these days and that is that it is an essential building block for everything else in my life. Thank you for reminding me again that every little thing I do is all adding up and strengthening this foundation I am now re-establishing.
Love this article Jenny. Making loving caring choices for ourself which includes taking responsibility for our health is the best medicine. ‘I have discovered that no act of self-care is too small. It makes a huge statement in the big picture and creates new foundation to stand on’.
I love that Deidre, ‘no act of self-love is to small’. From little things big things grow.
I so agree Jenny, ‘no act of self care is too small.’ Its taken a while to fully bring this in to my everyday living (and still slip up at times), and to realise it is our responsibility to make those choices to bring in changes that are self loving/self nurturing. If an illness pays a visit it is a deep healing that has been offered not just a random act.
“I have found that the best medicine I can give myself is love, self-care and nurturing, learning how to truly love and nurture my body and myself.” Jenny what you share here is so true, we have a choice to look after and deeply care for ourselves. Through Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine I have learnt the importance of taking self-responsibility and how through self-care my life has changed.
Absolutely Lovely Blog Jenny. It was so deeply amazing to read how you described choosing a more loving way of being for yourself, and described how this plays out in choosing how your day will start and going with your natural flow and knowingness rather than creating stressful situations. I have found this to be possible with myself as well. I also really appreciate how you shared that a lot of your ‘un-loving behaviours’ developed because of people you aligned to and became friends with. I know this was certainly the case for me as well.
“love in activity rather than disregard in activity.” This is a very clear way of putting the choice we have every moment of each day and it comes right down to whether we choose to be receptive to our bodies and the depth of who we are or not.
Self-care for me is now the foundation for my health and well-being, and something which has totally changed since taking responsibility for my choices.
Taking responsibility for our own choices is the key element to our quality of health and vitality – very well said Angela.
“We are precious and lovely – we can honour and love ourselves in every way.” This way of considering ourselves is not yet the norm. However through Universal Medicine and the student body I can see how many, who do consider themselves in this way, have made incredible changes in their lives. Self care, self love and self nurture are definitely the way to go if we really want to see true health.
It feels as no one is comfortable in what they are creating in their lives but the lack of honesty to say ‘hey what is going on here’ causes the irresponsibility and the feeling of being a victim when some illness or disease is experienced, the body is treated as if it has abandoned the person instead of seeing it is the other way around. Your blog is a great statement we are responsible and that self love and care, it is the way to go.
That’s a brilliant point you’ve made Annelies – that it’s the person who’s deserted their body and not the other way around.
‘I now ask myself frequently, ‘am I bringing the true presence of the beautiful me to everything I do’?’ I love this question Jenny and will take it with me into my day. Thank you for sharing in such a relatable way.
You make a great point here Jenny, with regards to believing illness is just random and something that just happens to us, which then in a way gives us permission to be reckless and accept what ever comes along is just bad luck. I used to have a real drive to stay well so that I would’t get some horrible illness, but in the end after years of trying things from other peoples suggestions I got loads of seemingly little illnesses instead, which were growing in intensity. Dropping all of that and paying more attention to how my body feels has improved my health tremendously, and continues to improve.
‘Am I bringing the true presence of the beautiful me to everything I do’? I absolutely can feel the difference – it’s beautiful, and everyone benefits, not only me! – Beautifully expressed Jenny and a great reminder to take into my day -thank you.
‘I have discovered that no act of self-care is too small. It makes a huge statement in the big picture and creates new foundation to stand on.’ Small, medium or large acts of self-care, consistently ‘self-administered’ are exactly what it takes to build a momentum of consistency in love in our foundation, something that can then sustain us through the next swathe of tough or demanding times.
Recklessness is normal these days, and the consequences of this action are seen daily. It is tragic what is happening to people and the results are displayed everyday via news and tv, surely there is a message in all the tragedy, death and crime that is rampant throughout the world.
When we think Illness and disease is something out of our control, self management goes out the window.
Having a relationship with our body and seeing illness and disease as part of the healing process and seeing that we actually have a HUGE impact on our health is a step in the right direction.
A step towards self-responibilty and self-healing.
That what we are needs to be cared for to truly be able to connect, I can feel how often disease are said to be a burden, but what it actually shows is that we can care more for ourself and our body, and that same body is saying stop, and is giving us an opportunity to heal.
A beautiful sharing with us Jenny and a joy to re-read again today. This serves as a gentle reminder for us all that no matter how small that self loving act is, it does make a difference to that bigger picture of life that presents itself to us. Ultimately taking back responsibility for our self care prepares us for whatever lies ahead and, if illness does come our way we are so much more prepared to keep this gentle self loving momentum going, still feeling into what changes we can continuously make with the supportive network available around us.
Illness and disease are no longer random or something I am a victim of. Illness and disease are great stopping points to reflect on and understand the steps taken that got me to this point. I am always shown where I have neglected to take note of earlier signs to pay attention to how I am living. They always bring moments of humility to facts I have known but overrode and ignored paying attention to, always.
I feel that in your blog you have described the general feeling of most people growing up. Growing up knowing that they might die any moment with absolutely nothing they can do about it. ‘With this way of thinking, self-responsibility in any real terms was pretty much out the window.’ Our vulnerability is pretty scary and from this fear of dying we spend most of our life trying to protect ourselves from whatever might happen but also entertaining and numbing ourselves with about everything we can get our hands on. Party on because today might be our last. I could relate to all that before but now that I know that I can take care of myself by listening to my body and I can actually feel that I am love and I can bring love in all that I do, I can feel the purpose and joy of life and the responsibility that I have to be all that I can be. Great subject Jenny, thank you.
Its true Jenny, the mentality of getting sick first then looking at how we eat and live is backwards. We need to break this cycle with living responsibly from the foundations of self care. Modern day conventional medicine is presently being overwhelmed with escalating rates of disease and illness of which is often fed by poor lifestyle choices and the fallout from the lack of regard and care people are presently living with in their everyday lives. Bringing self care to health care is the absolute and essential ingredient to correct these present statistics set to bankrupt our health care system as we know it if we do not turn them around.
Beautiful Jenny to read this deepening relationship with yourself. I love how you explain we are responsible for our health and it is not random. And how you have developed this more deeply and in more detail; just today I am exploring coming to a deeper understanding how I have created my body to feel as exhausted as it is today. I love this responsibility too – deeply honest, deeply cherishing, deeply building a new relationship with myself.
“I can now say that I have never enjoyed ‘self responsibility’ so much” – I totally get that and it’s funny because ‘responsibility’ used to have a totally different bearing on me, and now I see and appreciate how empowering it is to claim it.
I agree Fumiyo, I used to run a mile when I heard the word responsibility as I always thought it meant I had to be boring and a ‘goody-goody’, I see it totally differently now and actually love becoming more responsible in my life.
Great blog Jenny! I like this sentence and it is so absolutely true that we are the master of our own life – what you say is spot on; I know now that it is a choice for me to be love in activity rather than disregard in activity.
Isn’t it interesting how we can try so hard to fit in and be ‘normal’ whilst at total odds against the way we truly feel inside – seems like a strange way to define normal! Thank you for sharing your journey of self-love and responsibility, I too am finding there are more and more layers as I go and take every sign of sickness as a signal to look deeper into the way I am living.
“I can now say that I have never enjoyed ‘self responsibility’ so much.” Slowly I am beginning to appreciate the deep and simple joy of this, and it replaces many of the abusive, ‘exciting’ behaviours I’ve put myself through over the years.
It’s time for Self Care to be part of schools, workplaces and in our homes. This simple yet life changing way can turn the tide of sickness that is affecting many lives today.
I always had the feeling that illness and disease were not just coming out of the blue but I missed one important ingredient to embrace this fact and that is self love. I was always beating myself up having an illness and felt to withdraw from life. Nowadays it is as you say Jenny ‘I feel proactive and my life is rich with the growing love and tenderness that I feel towards myself and my wellbeing.’
Yes I agree Annelies with the beating myself up and would start asking myself ‘what have I done wrong?’ which gave me an excuse to indulge further whereas now I can ask myself what is my body showing me in how I’ve been living and the choices I’m making which feels so much more loving.
Beautifully expressed Jenny. When we give loving attention to anything it flourishes or shines, so it makes perfect sense that if we give ourselves that same precious care we too will flourish.
Love this line Jenny; ‘ I know now that it is a choice for me to be love in activity rather than disregard in activity’. Nice one to take into my day.
Self-Care will one day be a public awareness campaign, much like the smoking and alcohol compaigns that we see today. Self care is a public health issue and changing the patterns and belief of society on this as a health matter of great concern.
Absolutely Matthew the sooner self-care is a public awareness campaign the better, given the huge burden on our medical systems from so many diseases being exacerbated if not often caused by lack of it.
Thank you Jenny, we all have an opportunity to take responsibility for our own health and well-being. It is lovely to read and feel how you are choosing to take that opportunity and look after and love yourself. When we build that connection with our body, not only are we caring for ourselves, we can then care for another, equally with the same quality.
It is so true, Jenny, taking responsibility for our life choices and our health is empowering, as we then don’t feel like a victim of fate.
Loved to come back to this blog as it beautifully describes how we are not here to live in perfection but in harmony with our body and that this comes from living in a self-loving and self-caring way. We have the choice to live in disregard deciding not to be accountable for the consequences of our lifestyle choices or embrace the beauty of self-responsibility and live in consistent joy. This is not measured by not getting sick, but by the quality we live in no matter what is presented to us.
Finding a supportive flow and rhythm particularly in the evening before bed and in the morning has changed my life quite profoundly, it really does set you up for how you will go on through the rest of your day, not only deeply supporting yourself but this also flows on to others around you.
I agree Kate, finding your rhythm does set you up for how you will go through your day, and if I may add, tihs also sets a foundation for your life, in how you will be in life and how you will be or interact with others….
My daughter who is eight, last night said it would be good to have her birthday and Christmas everyday. I replied that we could because there is a gift within, that just needs a little love and nurturing, it costs us nothing and keeps on giving if we look after ourselves. How was the reply? “Every time we take care of ourselves, it lets a little bit of love out”. As you said Jenny, every bit of self care makes a huge difference.
This is so goregous what you have shared here Matt, the ripple effect of our choices.
“Am I creating a day that will be stressful from the start or am I allowing my natural flow, rhythm and true knowing to lead the way?”
Thank you Jenny for confirming for me that those days where I feel ‘out of sorts’ are the ones where I did not allow sufficient time and space for getting ready for the day, sometimes compounded by eating food that doesn’t really agree with my body. I love the words, ‘natural flow, rhythm’, as I immediately feel with myself again and ‘back in sync’.
Exactly Marian, I too can feel how I’ve started my day can affect the rest of it and can often struggle to turn it around once it’s on that course! It really is so supportive to set up our day in our natural flow and rhythm.
Hi Jenny – a brilliant blog! You make a key point here about healthy relationships being a huge part of your health in general. If we as people, have relationships each and every day with ourselves and others, than it becomes possible that the health of those relationships will impact our overall health.
This whilst a foreign concept to some, is something that I have come to be very true for me. As an example: I was in an abusive relationship = I did not speak up = I held in a lot of how I was truly feeling = it made me feel anxious, exhausted, very doubting of myself as a person and very small = I suffered for many years about my self worth – I felt sad and alone = using sugar and alcohol to forget about my choices = I was, for a fact, sicker for longer. And that is just one example of one relationship with one person.
A very honest comment hvmorden, and I totally agree that when we do not speak up in relationships it can be very unhealthy for us, as well as not providing a stop for the other person (so we become complicit in their abuse).
That’s a great example hvmorden of how just one abusive relationship can have an effect on so many areas of our life, and perhaps even long after the relationship is over, and affect our relationships with others as well.
Phenomenal what you have shared here hvmorden I have realised self worth issues can run thick and deep.
I’m re-reading your blog Jenny from my transit hotel gardens in North Carolina. It’s a hot, balmy sun-filled morning typical of the southern states. I’ve been gifted a few hours to myself and after a brief walk am using this space to just be quiet and still before the next leg of my journey to New Orleans. It occurred to me how I’m taking responsibility for the quality of these few hours and have no wish to be anywhere, see or do anything. For me this is self care, listening to and responding to what the body needs. I’ll be joining a family party of many very soon, stillness and quiet is my medicine and way of preparing.
Thank you for sharing Kehinde and lovely that you can appreciate stillness and quiet as your medicine at this time.
I can feel the deep level of love and honour with which you care for yourself Jenny, is beautiful to feel and so true that everybody benefits, not just you!
“I know now that it is a choice for me to be love in activity rather than disregard in activity.” Love this sentence as it makes so clear that we can choose and we have a choice and that this choice is the activity of life, how we live, our livingness. It says so much about the quality in which we live in, not saying what to do, but just choosing how to be. Beautiful sharing Jenny, thank you a great reminder of just being love.
Absolutely Rachel and what a beautiful sentence that is, clearly showing we have a choice to be ‘in love’ or not ‘in love’ in our activities. “not saying what to do, but just choosing how to be” beautiful
“I feel proactive and my life is rich with the growing love and tenderness that I feel towards myself and my well being” This is great Jenny, the loving foundation that we build is very real and palpable and every ounce of love we give ourselves really does nurture us back.
I love this Jenny, unfortunately many in our world fully believe that illness and disease is the luck of the draw. Yet deep down we all know this is not the truth. I like you have done many things that didn’t feel right in my body, but still did them because everyone else was and I felt that I would be left out if I didn’t do them. This is such a trap that so many get caught in. But in living this way I never felt complete whole or truly fulfilled in my life. I now do feel this and it has only come about because I have taken responsibility for how I am living my life and caring for my body.
Because you are living, what you are writing about, some of your lines come with the power of being pure medicine through to me. A medicine, fulfilling my body with love and stillness, I am able to open up to through reading – beautiful that’s the power of inspiration, so what you live is in every word you write. One of the “medicine-sentences was: ” I know now that it is a choice for me to be love in activity rather than disregard in activity.” I deeply could feel the choice too. And another was: “We are precious and lovely – we can honour and love ourselves in every way.” And thats so simple and true. Thank you Jenny.
Jenny, you’ve reminded me of how I used to prepare for my day. And that was simply to get out of bed 20 minutes before having to leave, and obviously always in a rush! Since making changes to how I approach everyday, I now have about 3 hours before I leave the house! That’s not all getting dressed time, there’s a lot I can do in those mornings, and it feels great to do what I need to do early, so that I’m not left thinking about my ‘to do’ list throughout the day, and then the evenings are better spent winding down rather than rushing around at a time when I’m more tired and less alert.
Sounds familiar Elodie! It really does feel so much more loving and in rhythm with our bodies when we make sure there is time to get ready in the morning without rushing and then using the evenings to wind down the day.
It wasn’t until I came across Universal Medicine and Serge Benhayon, that I heard about self care, self nurturing. It was completely new for me to hear that to supports ones own health, we must start to look at self care and self nurturing. For me this was not something I ever did, I was grown up to put others first before myself. I had no clue what self nurturing meant. I was living in a body which was very hard and in control. Once i understood and started to apply self care and self nurturing into my life, I started to loose the hardness and began to feel the softness in my body.
Likewise Amita it took me a couple of years to make the choice to understand self love – I asked a lot of people but what does it look like I could get the head concept but it was a very different story to live it the real difference was when i began to say no.
Thank you Jenny, I loved reading your very loving blog, a great reminder “that no act of self care is too small “.
I Loved Jenny’s blog too Jill, there are so many gems in this piece that in a very real way show us how self care is simple and natural. It also brought home to me how Jenny came to love self responsibility, this breaks my old belief that it was a chore or a duty.
The gem that inspired me was ‘ I know now that it is a choice for me to be love in activity rather than disregard in activity.’ This is the beauty of self responsibility.
I can feel your joy in taking responsibility of yourself the way you described it. Am I bringing the true presence of the beautiful me to everything I do? This question you pose yourself I take with me in my day. I can already feel the joy in me to take this as a focus. Thank you!
Before I was introduced to the teachings and presentations Of Universal Medicine and Serge Benhayon I’d never heard of self responsibility, self nurturing and self love. What a blessing to now be the owner of a wonderful gift the understanding of choosing to self love first and self nurture and break those cycles of self neglect. A beautiful sharing with us all Jenny – thank you.
Hi Jenny and thank you for this lovely informative sharing on choosing the best medicine for self. There is much to ponder and appreciate in this blog. I know that I still have much to learn about self nurture so thank you for sharing.
There are people around me that have many stresses in their lives but will not consider that the stresses and the choices they are making have anything to do with their level of health. Self care for them is about pampering, going out for dinner, a day spoiling yourself. i appreciate all that I have come to understand about connecting to self and how I can choose to be loving in many ways towards myself, that it is up to me. i love knowing that if I get sick or sprain an ankle, it is not just some random act but a loving message from the divine workings of life, a message just to me because I am loved. Great blog Jenny, thank you for sharing and giving me the opportunity to find out just a little more about who I am.
You make a great point Jenny about going against what you know to be true to fit in with others. I can recognise that in my life there has been moments when I’ve said no, but far too many times I’ve said yes to behaviours just so that I appear normal or fit in. How many of us continue to do this the whole of our lives – now I am learning to say no.
I love the simplicity of your article Jenny. We play a huge role in our own health care and are reminded here of the importance of making self care and nurturing part of our daily activity, and choosing to be “…love in activity rather than disregard in activity.”
‘We are precious and lovely, and can honour and love ourselves in every way’.
I felt tears and sadness when I read this beautiful and true statement, as I felt how I have spent my life not doing this.
Thank god for Serge Benhayon, I have been able to start to change this.
Beautiful, honest and simply inspiring. The journey to true self-love, care and nurturing is one I feel blessed to have chosen. I am constantly wobbling as I take my first steps away from self-neglect, but with the support of blogs like this that reflect the love in my heart I will not fail.
It’s so true that health was described in terms of good and bad luck and I totally bought into that. I loved reading this blog because it feels so empowering to take responsibility and action for decisions that affect my health, and there’s no perfection so we can be gentle with ourselves.
“I know now that it is a choice for me to be love in activity rather than disregard in activity.” This is awesome Jenny – thank you.
Jenny these words say it all: ‘I have found that the best medicine I can give myself is love, self-care and nurturing’
I love what you said about illness being your body healing the parts of you that you have not paid attention to, and of no act of self-care being too small. Gorgeous reminders of the responsibility that lies at the heart of true health.
What a sweet blog Jenny, I love the last sentence you have ended on “We are precious and lovely – we can honour and love ourselves in every way.” This has inspired me.
When we live this way it’s easier to notice when we are getting sick and understand why it’s happening rather than leaving it to fate to decide or thinking fate decides.
“I have discovered that no act of self-care is too small. It makes a huge statement in the big picture and creates new foundation to stand on”.
As you have pointed out Jenny self care, awareness and responsibility are such keys to building a solid, steady foundation on which to live our lives.
Great blog Jenny with many important questions that we will at some point stop and ask ourselves. There is such joy in what you write about self-responsibility. That in itself is a huge belief nut to crack, with most of us thinking that our lives would be lesser for it; when in fact it is exactly the opposite.
“I have realised that it first starts with me and how I am. Am I creating a day that will be stressful from the start or am I allowing my natural flow, rhythm and true knowing to lead the way? The very way I move, pick up the telephone, and how I get out of bed show me how I am setting myself up for the day. They show me how present I am, how my health and vitality will be sustained during the day and also how I will be with others. There are things that I constantly need to remind myself of. I now ask myself frequently, ‘am I bringing the true presence of the beautiful me to everything I do’? I absolutely can feel the difference – it’s beautiful, and everyone benefits, not only me!” Thank you for the reminder Jenny, that we can make choices as to whether our day will be stressful or allowed to flow.
Great point Jenny, we are educated as to end up thinking we have no say regarding what may happen to you. The irony is that this is not true at all. We do have a say. How we live and treat ourselves make a huge difference. Thank you for reminding the world of this!
Thank you Jenny and Eduardo, how we live and nurture ourself changes our lives, making a real and profound difference in every aspect of our life.
I love the point you make about the belief we can have of ‘it will happen if its destined too’ and in this thinking we are helpless to the diseases we may get in life and can’t do anything about it or use this as a card to treat our bodies however we like. Your article is empowering in that it brings attention to the fact that we have a large part to play in our health and wellbeing through the daily choices we make.
The body is an amazing vehicle of expression. My view on illness has completely changed over the last several years. I use to pride myself on never getting sick, being able to soldier through winter without a cold etc. Now I see illness or even something as simple as a cold as a blessing, as I know it is my bodies way of clearing what doesn’t belong inside it anymore. I don’t poo poo illness anymore, but rather celebrate the healing that it offers me.
Great expression here Jenny, as it is true that the belief is that illness and disease come out of the blue, yet like you, this has never made sense to me. To know that we are not powerless and have responsibility for what happens to us is actually quite freeing as it offers us the potential of treating ourselves with greater care, nurturing and love.
“There are things that I constantly need to remind myself of. I now ask myself frequently, ‘am I bringing the true presence of the beautiful me to everything I do’? I absolutely can feel the difference – it’s beautiful, and everyone benefits, not only me”
I love what you have expressed here Jenny
It is inspirational and a timely reminder to bring my rhythm, flow and quality of presence to each and every moment, thus benefiting all
You say “What can I do to break a cycle of self-neglect?” – I feel that anyone asking that question has already taken a big first step.
It is great to have this reminder Jenny, thank you, ‘We are precious and lovely – we can honour and love ourselves in every way.’ Reading this confirms that I am worth honouring and loving and it feels lovely to bring this knowing into my everyday livingness, thank you.
It has been an interesting reflection for me to look back over parts of my life where self-care was non-existent and how this correlates with how my health was during that time. Not surprising that my re-commitment to honouring me in the way I go about every aspect of my life over the past few years has meant that true vitality is enjoyed more often than not.
‘I have discovered that no act of self-care is too small.’
This sentence is profound and very true.
“It was as if they had been struck out of the blue….. without any forewarning this disease had descended upon them”.
I remember as a child feeling adults around me being in fear of illnesses/diseases and praying God to help people in their ordeal. It was quite scary. Then, as early as my mid-teens, I realised that illness and disease didn’t just happen and that the way we feel in our body and our mind were creating an environment where illness and disease would flourish. Basically, being sick doesn’t happen by chance.
Thank you Jenny for a great sharing.
Self care and nurturing is something new to me and somewhat alien as I come to realise how far into disregard I have gone.Some ways of disregard are very obvious and the choice is easy but seeking out the Iittle ones and making the changes feel more difficult As my awareness grows my selfcare and nurturing ways are growing. Remembering to be gentle and loving on the return to realising how precious l am has become key in my new learning.
I’m finding that love is not a doing, although we can do things with love. To build my love for self, I first have to hold myself in that absolute tender preciousness then all the choices I make with that quality is the expression of that tenderness. And from there the ripples flow out to the world.
Great blog Jenny – the simplicity of self-care is so common sense, but it is still something that can be a struggle to integrate as we dodge and weave all the ‘shoulds and should nots’ that may have entrapped us for years.
Great point Rebecca; this struggle I can relate to as I learn the ‘should and should nots’ actually come from my mind and never from my body.
Gorgeous blog Jenny – I love these words:
“I know now that it is a choice for me to be love in activity rather than disregard in activity”
Thank you for sharing with us, the smallest of moments of love in activity sure do add up to building a strong loving foundation.
I love what has been expressed here “I know now that it is a choice for me to be love in activity rather than disregard in activity.” as it sums up the need to take responsibility of our own self care. Thank you Jenny.
For me that ‘place within ourselves’ is a feeling of warmth, from reading this I understand that I can choose to feel that warmth in my body everywhere or in whatever I am doing. While not my daily experience it is something worth giving a go. And if I can’t feel that warmth? what is still hanging around me that I assume or believe that I am not worth feeling that warmth during my daily activities…
I love this amazing reminder, “Am I bringing the true presence of the beautiful me to everything I do?” Thank you for sharing your journey with self-responsibility, Jenny.
Self-responsibility can seem like such a heavy or solemn word but I love how you have shown it here to not need to be like that. Thanks Jenny.
I really enjoyed this blog Jenny. I used to question why I got ill and decided it was just one of those things you had and did your best to heal with medicine and the doctors advice. This took away all responsibility for my own part in it and I would go back to exactly how I was before, nothing changed, so the body had to speak louder and gave me more messages with a frozen shoulder and broken wrist but still this was about being an inconvenience and getting better and I didn’t want to accept the part I played in it. I love the line “I have discovered that no act of self-care is too small’, and this comes down to a thought, a word and a choice at any moment. It really is the detail that makes the difference if we truly self care or not.
Alison I love your comment because I could feel that I did the same with my body.The Line “I have discovered that no act of self-care is too small’ was first a bit uncomfortable but I agree that really every detail can make a difference in true self care.
This is an awesome blog Jenny. I relate to a lot of what you said. I particularly loved the line ‘I have discovered that no act of self-care is too small’. Until I came to the presentations of Universal Medicine and Serge Benhayon I was arrogant enough to not consider that illness, disease or accidents were a result of how I was living my life and definitely saw it all as being a random lottery, I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now, I know my choices are a direct reflection of what is going on in my life and like you, the enjoyment I get from self-responsibility is immense. I know if I get ill now (which is very rare) I need to look at those ‘small acts of self-care’ that I have let slip.
‘I know now that it is a choice for me to be love in activity rather than disregard in activity.’ Hi Jenny I particularly like this sentence because it says it all in one neat package. Every moment is a choice of love or disregard. Thank you
We are precious and lovely, this is something I could have come across much earlier in life. I am now practicing much of the medicine you talk of and have taken total responsibility in where I’m at in life. I was someone who thought that it was the luck of the draw, or that it will never happen to me, or you have to die of something so was in total disregard. I shudder to think of how unloving I was towards myself, I must have hated me to smoke and drink as heavily as I did. Well that was in the past and I know I have a new liver by now, but my lungs? Not so sure they renew or clear so easily. Anyway thank you Jenny for your inspiring blog .
Indeed Kevin, self-responsibility is medicine.
Thank you Jenny, lovely to feel your tenderness through your writing. Being more self loving and taking care does not mean ‘I won’t get ill’ as you say, but my ability to respond…my response- ability to whatever presents itself is with the love and tenderness I hold myself in.
Thanks Jenny, this is so simple to understand… I will have to share it!
In reading this piece I have stopped to consider my choices today. Have I been as loving as I can with myself today? For some reason today I feel a little out of sorts, like I am about to get sick, after reading your article I will bring more awareness to the choices I make for myself today. Thank you.
Thank you Jenny. How do these different aspects of living effect our health and wellbeing? How can we be love in action? Does the way I make a cup of tea and click send on an email make a difference? Thanks for setting me pondering on this Saturday morning…with love
Jenny, this blog is brilliant! It is, at the same time, very practical and also deeply philosophical – a combination I love. It brings up the whole question of whether we live in a random universe or one that has a true loving order. As you have asked, do we just get an illness out of the blue, are we just randomly struck?
There is order and there is sense in life and such questions as you have put to us lead us to know this. I love your question, ‘Is how much we value and nurture ourselves dependent on how we have been treated or hurt in life and if so how can we break that cycle?’ What an empowering question! How wonderful to feel proactive and no longer helpless and powerless.
I also love that you have said, ‘I have discovered that no act of self care is too small’. There is such a tenderness in this, such a simplicity. Thank you for bringing your love and care with this piece of inspired and inspiring writing.
Your sentence, ‘I now feel every day that everything is as it should be, whatever is going on…’ was such a blessing to read this morning as I pondered on something that happened yesterday. I can now see that my part in the ‘incident’ is that I attended a group that I had no impulse to go to. Even such a small thing which looks so harmless led me out of my beautiful rhythm and into some disarray. As you say in your great comment below, ‘Even the seemingly tiniest thought can make a great difference to how I feel and my self-caring…’ Every little detail does matter and I am learning that my sometimes ‘slap-dash’ approach to things (or not considering the whole picture) can lead to things happening to me that are not loving. And I am responsible for this. It is becoming clearer that a combination of ‘feeling the whole’ and contemplating the detail is crucial to keeping rhythm and loving order.
As Jenny so well wrote, are we just struck out of the blue?
Thanks again Jane for your awesome participation in the blogs at every level.
Absolutely Lyndy, “there is order and there is sense in life” and nothing happens randomly. To know that takes fear out of life instantly. This beautiful piece of wisdom is presented by Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine and it has helped so many people to return to a way of being in life that is more truthful.
Great comment Jane, and my sense is that we like to think of it as a random universe so that we don’t have to take responsibility for what is going on.
I too have discovered the best form of medicine for me, is the way I live. As I have made more loving choices on how I am with myself and how I live my day and my body has responded. I now feel more alive, I have more energy and I enjoy life sooo much more.
Thank you Jenny for such an awesome piece.
Thank you Jenny. That is beautiful how you say no act of self care is too small.
Thank you Jenny for this simple and personal account of how we can return to claim our true selves more. Just reading this piece felt warm and nurturing and marked a truth in my body…
Thanks Jenny, beautifully expressed, love in activity, thank you
Jenny, I too used to think that I had no say in a lot of things in my life, like I was just some destiny pawn going along the track of life, but now I realise that if its my body then I do have a say because I can choose to be the captain of this vessel so to speak and make more loving responsible choices not just tempt fate and then wear the consequences. Thank-you for sharing.
Thanks Jenny for bringing more understanding of the value of self-care in our lives.
Agreed Rod – Self-care is such a critical part of health care & it’s free and available to everyone! Imagine how much less burden we would have on the current medical and health system if self-care was deemed an essential part of any treatment program?