Essential Goals

Goals!  Okay, this is a new word for me.  I rarely use that term.  I usually say “I hope to…”, “I plan to…”, “my dream is…”.  I think, as part of living more MindFully, I need to be honest with myself.  Those statements all equal goals.  GOALS GOALS GOALS GOALS!  As a writer, I know words are very powerful and important, as well as often inadequate and clumsy.  I’m not sure why words like “goal”, “commitment”, and “I will” are so much scarier than “plan”, “loyalty,” and “try”.  

I will try (oops)...I plan to (oops)...I want to (oops)..  I am Committed to my new Goal of being firm in my confidence to succeed in whatever I choose to succeed.  I Will keep reminding myself of this one.

Someone in one of my classes half jokingly told me that if I were to ever run for office, he would definitely vote for me.  A few others chimed in with agreement.  I don’t want to run for office, but I do want to be more MindFull of how I influence people.  I want to be as encouraging as possible, and empower others with as many tools as possible to make their lives, and this world, better.

Years ago, I worked in a bookstore and in a fabric store.  I loved those jobs, not because I brought home a paycheck, but because I was helping others to find just what they needed.  I did that not our of obligation to sell to them, but out of a genuine human connection and excitement for them.  I learned as much from them as they did from me.  My best days were the days when someone returned to the bookstore, glowing with excitement over a book I recommended that was just the right one.  Or, the best days in the fabric store were when a customer enthusiastically brought in a finished project I had helped them plan.  Those were not moments of selling, but of genuinely touching another life in a positive way, and in turn, they touched mine.

That is how Deb and I feel about doTERRA Oils.  We actually did buy membership in another essential oil company once.  Those were good quality oils as well, and we liked them, but we didn’t love or believe in them enough to sustain our membership or share them at every turn with our friends, coworkers and strangers.  We knew they smelled good, and there were some remarkable stories of how various people were positively affected by this oil or that.  With doTERRA, we’re hearing the stories, but we are also learning about various scientific studies that support the anecdotal evidence as well.  And, even in our short time with doTERRA, I have already felt amazing, transformative results in my own life, with the application of a single oil blend.

I have had chronic neck and right shoulder pain for around five years.  Some days it is so bad I can’t fully turn my head or lift a gallon of milk or turn a key or a doorknob without excruciating pain.  I started dropping things and having trouble pouring myself a cup of coffee.  I found that acupuncture helped for about one to two weeks.  The one time I had a Thai massage, I was pain free for two weeks.  Doing yoga on a regular basis helps to lessen the pain, but if I am already acute, I can't get into position to stretch the right muscles and my shoulder and arm are too weak and painful to get into certain positions safely.  So I have lived with pain pretty much every day for five years.  (I forgot to mention that NSAIDs like ibuprofen and aspirin give me nosebleeds and acetametaphine doesn’t touch the pain.  I take NSAIDs cautiously and they rarely work completely or for more than 2-3 hours at a time- after the 30-60 minutes that I wait for them to kick in.)

One night I was sitting at work, unable to turn my head very far because of neck, upper back and shoulder pain.  My trapezius muscle was so tensed that when I tried to reach back (with my left hand) and press on it for relief, there was no give.  It was literally as hard as a rock.  I had taken my ice pack out of my lunch bag to try to numb the pain a bit.  I was in so much pain that my stomach was upset, I was clenching my jaw from pain and I had a headache starting at the base of my skull and quickly spreading.

In the past, as I said, oral NSAIDs were ineffective and troublesome for me, but had always been my goto solution.  My doctor didn’t seem to care much that I was in pain, and all he did was give me a prescription for a topical NSAID, which had minimal effect, for a very limited amount of time.

This particular night, I was chilly (I work midnights), so I put on my fleece jacket.  In the pocket was a vial of “Past Tense” oil that our niece, Gini, had given me on her visit about a month earlier.  I had forgotten I had it.  I knew it was good for headaches, and, I reasoned, that I did have a headache from a reaction to pain originating in my neck and shoulders.  So I uncapped it and slathered it over the base of my neck and my shoulder muscles.

Within five to ten minutes, the ice pack came off, opening a door ceased to hurt, and I could turn my head without pain.  I was pain free for the first time in weeks.

Sounds like snake oil, right?  Well, after that experience, Deb and I were converted into essential oil believers.  Specifically, believers in doTERRA’s Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade Essential Oils, which only get this designation after every batch in every bottle gets put through a “mass spectrometer” to make sure everything that is supposed to be in there is, and nothing that is not supposed to be, isn’t (herbicides, pesticides, contaminants from other plants or pollution, etc.).  Few other companies can make this claim.  With Deb’s multiple allergies and sensitivities, it is essential that in our household we be MindFull of potential contaminants of any kind, and we have faith that what is claimed to be in these oils is there, and that there is nothing else.

I have long combined natural remedies with allopathic medicine, but I have always approached natural and homeopathic remedies as slow-acting treatments that I have to be patient and wait for the results, keeping an eye toward easing pain and illness over time.  I have always paired them with over the counter drugs.  

I am beginning to realize that some natural remedies, like certified pure therapeutic grade essential oils, can have an instant, transformative effect on my quality of life.  I like it, and am excited to keep exploring the possibilities.  Let us know if you want to learn more!


Shalom,
Aimee