“All my life I had been looking for something, and everywhere I turned someone tried to tell me what it was. I accepted their answers, too, though they were often in contradiction and even self-contradictory. I was naïve. I was looking for myself and asking everyone except myself questions which I, and only I, could answer. It took me a long time and much painful boomeranging of my expectations to achieve a realization everyone else appears to have been born with: that I am nobody but myself.” 

~ Ralph Ellison

This fits a lot of areas of our lives, and one of them definitely includes wellness. When you’re not feeling your best, what do you do? Look for someone else to give you the answer, right? Because you don’t think you can possibly put your own self on the right track.

I know that’s what I did. Kept wishing someone — anyone — would figure out what I needed and let me know. And, to a partial extent, I got that when I finally found really great resources who knew health … real wellness, not simply masking disease. But the other part was all mine.

It was me who had the answers I most needed. And my answers worked well for me. Just as your answers will work best for you. If you find yourself peering hopefully through door after door after door, stop. Shut those doors. Then unlock your door.

It might be a little rusty, but it will open up for you again. Listen to your intuition — that gut feeling, your heart, those little ideas that pop up in your head, the signs you come across during your day. Make a point to watch for them. Don’t  brush them aside because they don’t sport white lab coats and multiple letters after their names. The more you use it, the better it will work.

That sort of information might just be what you need to get back on track. Listen. Investigate. Give it a try. Don’t immediately disregard the info. How much do you want to be well? How much time are you giving up to being unwell? How much of your energy, time and finances are being drained currently because of how you feel?

It’s time to try something different. Your body’s wisdom is right there, if you access it. End the door chase for a bit, and go within. It’s surprising how much smartness we have right inside our own doors.