Day 7 - Have You Had Your RDA of Love?

It was the middle of the night in a hotel room. The darkness only broke in theme from a small slit of artificial street light filtering through a gap in the curtain. The thermostat-driven fan cycled in the background comforting my mind from the internal noise that kept me awake.

A shuffle of blankets, then carpeted but audible footprints and a wheezing and whine came into my senses. I jumped up and escorted my daughter into the hotel bathroom, whispering to keep anyone from being disturbed. I turned on the blinding fluorescent light. 'Jesus,' I thought to myself, 'you would think they would figure out how to create flattering lighting in the decades of hotel-bathroom existence.' My face looked just as pale and sick as my daughter's. Her chest was congested and in pain; her throat raw and sore. Tears ran down her face in frustration. I did the standard 'lips on the forehead' fever test. She was hot.

After rummaging through my purse and finding supplements and powders I gave her a big glass of water and chlorophyll to coat her throat. It is in times like these that I get frustrated. Proper nutrition would have come in handy for her the last couple days. Rest would have been helpful earlier that night. But what could I do now? I began worrying about whether I should go to the store and get some cold medication. She was so uncomfortable. I decided to focus on one thing only - get her to relax and to sleep. Let the body heal on its own.

In bed I positioned myself slightly upright so that her head could fall on my chest. The fever was still coursing through her body. I scratched her skin with my fingernails gently alternating from her back to her scalp. My mother did this when I was little and it always felt like the most instinctual method of soothing an aching and anxious body. I could feel the difference immediately. Her body calmed and became less rigid and constricted. I could sense by her breathing that she was staying asleep longer in between wormy movement. After just two hours her fever had broken and her body was soft and limp in dreamland.

Later when I asked my daughter what made her feel better she said that it was when I started scratching her back. She said the moment I did she could relax and her throat and chest felt better. I will say it time and time again (to both myself and to others) - nutrition is more than food. It is the care and feeding of an individual on all levels. What happened in that moment? Love. Love is a part of your daily needs. If you do not experience enough your health will suffer.

You do not have to rely on others to give you love. One of the most important strengths of character that you can gain is loving yourself on a daily basis. Look over the following list and answer the questions to see if you give yourself your dose of necessary love on a daily basis:

• Do you honor your body when you are hungry and eat?
• Do you prepare food for the day to feed yourself adequately?
• Do you stop when you start to feel full?
• Do you listen to how your body feels and respond to its overall needs? (i.e. when you begin to feel sick you slow down and rest?)
• Do you alter your diet and experiment with different foods to make sure you are getting essential nutrients?
• Do you pursue a hobby or passion on a daily basis?
• Do you get outside and interact with nature?
• Is moving your body essential to you?
• Have you learned how to have boundaries with other people, perhaps learning how to say 'no'?
• Do you forgive yourself easily if you make a mistake?
• Have you learned how to ask others for help, love and support or to communicate your needs? 
• Do you reach out to others and instigate affection? 

If you sometimes feel overwhelmed with the long list of nutrients that are required for your health and the media and new-driven studies that condemn some foods and lavishly promote others then always fall back on this one nutrition principle: love does the body good. Focus on that and its rewards will pass through into all areas of your well-being.

Recommended Daily Allowance of Love: Start out with doing three in the above list and build up to five!

Nat