We are on a journey of checking in with our life and the way are living our life. We have discussed “Living Our Biggest and Best Life”, Choosing Your Perspective on Life”, “Finding Our Own Joy and Peace”, “Loving and Being Loved” and so many other discussions that feed into today’s topic of “Malama Pono”, which in the Hawaiian language means- “Take good care of yourself”. I can’t begin to tell you how important it is to prioritize the time to make sure you are caring for yourself. I am definitely a bad example of doing this, but I am making an effort to learn how. Our parents before us were not good at taking time out for caring for themselves, and in the long run, their zest to always be available and accessible to others impacted their physical health. I think sometimes we don’t realize that if we do have a ritual or habit of taking time out to give ourselves a time in it is not a luxury it is a necessity. Perhaps we think we are being selfish or that we are neglecting our responsibilities to other people and things, so we sacrifice our own wellbeing to keep everything and everybody “cared for”! This is really a bad unrealistic myth that has crept into the psyche of so many of us.
We cannot be, first of all, the one person in our family, on our jobs, in our faith communities, in our social organizations, etc., that have full responsibility for things, for fear everything falls apart. If you think about it, that might be considered a little egotistical. The reality is that if things fall apart because we were making room for ourselves at the time, then we have failed to help others launch their gifts and capacity to take the torch and led. I have witnessed how people can also take advantage of our willingness to abandon our own wellbeing so that they in turn do not have to step up to the plate and contribute their gifts. We are doing them and ourselves a disservice.
I come from a lineage of a family that has created a bank of resources that are in service to humanity. We watched our parents work endlessly to make a difference in the lives of the people they served not only in our Parrish, but our community, our city, our state, and our country. Nothing kept them from being on the front line for fighting for justice and equality for the underrepresented in this country. Each of us siblings in my family have had “jobs” that were not “jobs” but their “divine destiny calls”! Each of us have not been good at “Malama Pono”!!! So now we are at least at the point of acknowledging that we need to “take care of ourselves”. The next step is to actualize that action to carve out our space to “take a time out to take a time in”!
All this being said, let’s seriously consider how we are going to find a time, space, and the tools to care for ourselves in a way that is gently, loving, and respectful to every part of our being. We must see our physical body as the sacred space that houses and protects not just our physical elements but houses our soul and the essence of our divine being. We must be kind and compassionate to ourselves. We must value and respect ourselves as being worthy of care, concern, and effort that goes into being healthy, happy, and whole. By taking care of ourselves we are actually enabling ourselves to be in a better state of being to help support the lives of others. Baby steps! Just baby steps and do it one day at a time. It does not have to be a “big plan” that is not flexible and spontaneous, because we must also have a sense of freedom that undergirds our “Malama Pono”! I love it! I just love even the thought of being comfortable enough to acknowledge that I too need to take better care of myself! Let’s do it guys!!
“Malama Pono”!!!!
