Our culture values activity and acquiring material things in the outside world.  Being busy has become a “badge of honor.” Even our exercise routines reflect this with the belief that if you are not sweating and breathing hard it’s worthless.  This has become such a habitual way of living we are like a fish in water.  Fish live in water all of their lives but they don’t have awareness of the water all surrounding them.

We have been so accustomed to our surroundings we don’t really see the sparkles of life.

From my observations, people who don’t feel good or have full blown chronic illness have often gotten into the habit of ignoring the signs the body uses to wake us up to change our ways.  Eventually the symptoms become so bad they cannot be ignored anymore.    Our culture trains us to ignore how we feel emotionally and physically.  Feelings are literally “taboo.”  This results in a belief we are “attacked” by pain or illness.  Common phrases are “I got hit with this cold” or “I had a migraine attack.”

Are you tired of struggling with chronic health issues?

Have you gotten frustrated, feeling as if you have run out of options for your persistent health problems?  Our modern medical model is good at saving lives from emergencies, minimizing deaths from infectious diseases and helping with some beneficial surgeries.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t fare so well with many chronic diseases.  Treatment options are mostly limited to surgery or pharmaceutical drugs with side effects. Both of these are focused on the physical level. Little attention is given to the mental-emotional level which plays a big role in true healing.

May be you don’t have a specific disease per se, but just don’t feel good anymore.  I hear complaints like, “I’m tired and can’t sleep, it’s hard to get through the day” or “Anxiety and stress have taken over, and it’s affecting my relationship” or “Lately I have been experiencing horrible jaw pain and my PMS has worsened to the point that I miss a couple of days of work every month.”

To truly get at the root of many chronic illnesses requires beginning the process of paying attention to the “water all surrounding them” (like the fish).  One way is allowing a deeper insight to when behaviors cause worsening of symptoms.   This can be as simple as noticing that headaches increase with overwork.

Sometimes looking deeper is required.  Someone who unconsciously stuffs anger because they believe it’s not acceptable to get into conflict will create health problems over time.  It can also be as subtle as admitting to ourselves we are not living the fulfilling lives we ache for.

What the heck do sparkles have to do with this?

Have you ever noticed that there are sparkles everywhere?  It’s true.  You can find them flying through the air after a snowstorm when the sun shows its face.  Most flower petals have tiny brilliant sparkles easiest to see with bright light on them.  Many car paint jobs are sparkly as are rhinestones.  Lake Dillon in the summer sparkles in the late afternoon sun.

You have seen sparkles, but do you really take time to notice on a regular basis?  Do you take time to notice anything that you feel is beautiful or inspiring on a regular basis?  Einstein said, “You either see everything in life as a miracle or nothing as a miracle.”

Noticing sparkles and smiling is just an example of a way to begin to retrain yourself toward greater well-being.

Even if you are depressed and feel awful you can choose to do this.  Notice I am saying this is a choice.  I used to think of myself as a “realist”, and a “pessimist”.  Along the path of healing my own depression, worry and chronic lung issues I made a choice to look at the world in a new way.  This was not easy and I can tell you in the beginning it often felt fake and empty.

Somewhere along the way things began to shift inside.  With time and persistence my life in the outer world became healthier, happier and more magical.  Yes, one of my favorite practices is seeing sparkles anywhere and everywhere.

Acupuncture is an amazing healing tool that works on both the physical and mental-emotional level.  During the course of treatment, I have noticed that often beyond symptom relief there’s an overall relaxation of body and mind.  This release of tension allows an easier connection “within” that creates healing momentum at a core level.

So decide on whatever your “sparkles” are.

Make the decision each day to look for beauty and inspiration in your own way.  If you are open, with time your choice to do this can begin to change your life on many levels.