Not one can thrive with out the other two.
I was talking to my old friend Sherry Buttler the other day. We met many years back in my stint with PR. She’s a real pro and always made me feel like I was too, even though I was green out of college.
Our paths crossed again when she was brought on to promote Head for the Cure’s Beers for Brains Epicuriad event. She immediately reached out to ask if I would help with promos and I was like, yeah I’ll tell my story for gourmet food and drinks!
Just kidding (sort of).
When she called we had some catching up to do and it was like time never passed. She dove right in and slapped me in the face with a truth that I hadn’t even considered.
She said, “you know we all hear about mind, body, and spirit but that’s just not right.”
I was freaking out a little bit because I have a whole section of resources on my website devoted to this idea.
Then she went on,”It’s really spirit first, then mind and body. People have it all backwards.”
Preach Sherry!
She is so right. If we’re thinking about this idea from a top-down mentality here, the spirit is first. It’s the essence, the jumping off point of our mind and our body because from our spirituality we define our truth.
Our spirituality shapes our truth. Our truth shapes our mind. Our mind shapes our body.
Here’s how this played out in my own life.
Spirit
When I was given news that I probably wouldn’t live long enough to raise my kids, I turned to God first. I talked to Him a lot. I took communion at home. I read His word. I leaned into every corner of my faith, but befriending God like a human made it easy to be mad at Him for allowing my pain. So I acknowledged The Spirit too. It’s easy to forget that Holy Spirit already LIVES in us. We can’t see it or hardly define it, but we feel its intimacy. It’s the nudge, the guide, the path towards purpose. I was equally rooted in and surrendered to the spirit once I allowed it thrive.
Mind
Then I took it a step further. I knew that doctors could potentially “cure” me, but only God could “heal” me. I needed the full on healing. So I chose to believe in it. I asked Bruce to believe with me and to declare it through prayer, holding each others hands in our bedroom. I felt a weight lifted. It was our new truth.
Body
When I choose faith and my new truth, my body followed. I started to crawl out of my darkness. I had to keep remembering my truth, especially on hard days, but it gave me the strength to fight for my health in the kitchen and in the gym. If God was going to allow me to keep my body, I was going to take care of it.
If one is out of balance the rest will suffer
Before I moved through this process, I tried to fix my body first. I started training for weightlifting meets with a mentality that if I kept getting stronger and better on the platform, it meant my health was getting better too. I had meltdowns about missed lifts. I put too much energy into this one area for where I was at spiritually and mindfully. It was a journey to find my way back to a healthy body balance, but I wouldn’t change it for anything. I learned so much.
When they’re in synch you become unstoppable
Yes, unstoppable. You are living by design in harmony with your circumstances. When your mind, body, and spirit are in synch, you are literally releasing yourself to reach your full potential. You are no longer in your own way of achieving the very best version of your life.
