St Catherine of Siena quote.
Yesterday I had a good, fruitful talk with my priest about some spiritual/ emotional issues that were in my life { including Brian's bad reaction to the cancer--scaring hormone treatments but he's OFF THOSE DAMN DRUGS as of Monday. Alleluia!
Cancer : You LOSE Brian beat your sorry cellular ass! I am so proud of my Marine-- he's been such a trooper through all of this mess. But the last dose of hormone treatments made him so ill that he was worried and I was frightened .No: more like I was terrified. I'd waited well into my 30's to meet and marry my person, and was not ready to live as a widow..
The other big issue that I talked with my priest about involves someone else I know--- someone's story I do not have the authority to share in public. I went to my priest not just because she is my priest, but because she is one of the most honest { and honesty is required often to get people to see things differently.} I also trust her because of who she's proven herself to be: a faithful servant to all God's People. I knew that her integrity as a human would keep whatever was said in her study between us.
One of the reasons I sought out some help from my spiritual advisor is that all this " stuff" had been causing me to feel stress pain in my neck muscles and some { yucky} unpleasant gastrointestinal distress. I was also confused: with middle age comes some new experiences that are hard for everyone-- but especially for people such as myself.
I'd carried the weight of Brian's illness and the situation of someone else I love deep within me. As an empath, I tend to be a deep " feeler". Yet the human brain-body-soul connection is real-- and as an empath my stress and other negative emotions were manifesting within my physical self. The pain and the unpleasantness of the gut trouble was NOT " all in my head" { just trust me on that-- I'm not gonna get graphic with explaining}
The mind=-soul-body connection is real for all people, but some of us experience spiritual/emotional stress as honest-to-goodness physical symptoms.
On Tuesday I walked into my priest's office with a sore gut and tight neck muscles. After our chat and prayers, I felt some weight lift from me. My neck muscles relaxed as best they can for a scoliosis patient and my gut became pain free and started acting healthy.
As an empath, I KNOW that I need to check myself often. While I am still waiting on that referral to see a therapist, I am grateful that my priest can offer both practical and spiritual care. I'm grateful that she asked me to do the heavy soul examination myself.
My soul is clearer and my body feels better.
My advice to readers: Listen to your body. Talk to someone you trust and who can be honest with you.
For the first time in a month, I'm feeling great!
Amen.
Sarah Elizabeth McCarren
22 September 2021
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