Another year of regrets...

Today I celebrate my 31st birthday, but feel like I should be turning 18.  As time quickly marches forward, I find myself reflecting backwards.  Thinking of all the good and bad things I have experienced in the 372 months I have been on this Earth, that's right - I had the audacity to say that amount of months.  You could say Birthdays are a cathartic.

People say life is too short for regrets but I have a hard time with this.

re·gret

[ri-gret]

VERB (USED WITH OBJECT) [RE·GRET·TED, RE·GRET·TING.]

1.

to feel sorrow or remorse for (an act, fault, disappointment, etc.): He no sooner spoke than he regretted it.

If we never regretted something we said, or something we did, than learning from our mistakes seems impossible.  I don't think having 'regrets' is a productive emotion but I do think it allows us to reflect on what or who is important to us.  I believe I would be a lonely person if I didn't regret anything I said or did.  I also believe I would be completely oblivious if I didn't live with regret.  To me, living without it means I wouldn't have the capacity to learn, change and become a better person. Not saying everybody should go out and do things they will regret, but if you do - don't regret the regret!?

What a debbie downer of posts - but today, my birthday present to myself is to be grateful for everything in my life.  For my experiences. For my friends.  For my family.  For my loved ones.  For my regrets...because without them, I wouldn't be growing up.

Oil Pulling

It was like playing charades this morning in our house.  My mouth was full of coconut oil  - so trying to communicate today's plan of attack was a sight to see. What! Say that again? You didn't think I was just going to glaze over the fact that I was swishing coconut oil in my mouth.  Seems strange and indeed it is. Although a new addition to my regimen, "oil pulling" as it is called has been around for quite some time. Read More about Oil Pulling.

With recent ailments running through our house, I looked inward at my own health and wanted to improve on a few things.  I've heard about oil pulling before and there have been many times were I was extremely close to scooping the coconut oil into my mouth - but it wasn't until the other day in the middle of what I was calling "my healing crisis" from my deep tissue massage from physical therapy that I wanted to keep this detoxification process going.  With much hesitation, I went into the pantry, pulled out the coconut oil and jammed a tablespoon of the ooey gooey oil into my mouth.  Not going to lie, I thought I was going to vomit right then and there but I didn't, so I went on my merry way swishing about.   

Swish Swish Swish Swish - oh boy, 15 minutes seemed like an eternity.

I try to distract myself while swishing - unloading the dishwasher, feeding grace breakfast or pretty much anything that keeps my mind off what is actually happening.  It's too soon to see if this has had any impact on my health - I'll keep you posted on my swishing habits!