Awareness

Just so you know, unlike what our youngest daughter thinks; I'm not paranoid. I'm aware. As a of matter of fact, I've kept myself aware most of my life over 90% of the time. Being aware, is not about fear. Awareness, is a preparation. Preparation for the things I know people will do, whether they should or they shouldn't. Its like a vibe. 

You know we all have that ability. Yet most of us live such unclean, unclear lives we lose the tapping into the congruent vibe that is gifted to each of us, each individually. 

Instead, we dive into paranoia. Then we feel anxious, too privately foolish. Or we're made to feel such.

I'm not here to make you feel anxious nor foolish. I'm here to point out your ability to be aware. To clean up your act. Stop your OTC drug use, that you take without question or physician’s prescription. Limit your over all or any alcohol usage for a year or ever. Reduce your over indulgence in foods you know like sugar to name one, caffeine, another.

And if you've got children allow them to know what they don't need daily, weekly or at all as far as indulgence of foods, chemicals. Be their example.

Turn off the noise in your home to a minimum. Perhaps, open a window and take a belly breath from you toes on up slowly. Feel that and let it go slowly.

Feel the burden of less. Bring yourself to less. Feel the small pains that you think are larger than they are without masking them. I'm here to remind you to use what you were born with or whatever is left of it. That's part of if not most of my job here as I exist in this vessel.

For the moments, remove your self-inflicted indoctrination. Try that. Many of you fear doing that. By now, the medical, religious, and political communities know you've been indoctrinated into thinking you shouldn't remove their attacks on your peace. With that fear, fear is built within you in a multitude of ways. 

I've witnessed this in children, young adults and adults who've been convinced doing anything they'd not been subject to is voodoo/scary/wrong/hellish. Whoever taught them this, shame on them. However they/we learned this, and it can be unlearned. 

If you're age 18 remove yourself privately from those ideologies for a moment. Your moment, listening to nature and realizing you have more than a few choices in changes you could make and ones that do not need changing. Always keep the door open to change. Because if you don't you will harm others. Truth being, you know this already. And you either don't care. Or you are too filled with fear, which now presents as bigotry, perhaps misogyny, and most definitely envy/hatred. You can clean that up now. It's a thought away. It's a discipline. It's a practice. 

Remember with that fear too you will have harmed yourself sometimes intentionally, but you don't think about that. It may not have ever entered your mind.

After all that, as I've read about historical events and such regularly. Now for the part of awareness and accepting certain feelings as 'just is'. Because you're just you. I'll bring us to what I was reminded of this morning upon reflection of yesterday's conversation. 

Decades ago in the Marines, I took a course that was not required at the time by Marines. You took it to gain rank. Then eventually about a year later they threw it to our unit for a day, for a general brief lesson. It was, how to wear a suit to be protected from things like nerve agents, going into areas after Chemical, Biological and Nuclear warfare agents have occurred. The course I took was way more than a day of studies. It was broken down into sections under each area of warfare. Like Chemical agents of nerve, blood, choking and do forth. It hitting different areas of the organ systems of our troops.

You had to know how to wear a suit for two weeks, which was the apparent time the suit would be good for. You had to know how to administer first aid to those who'd succumb to any agent. You had to make certain you knew which agent it was before injecting them. They may not know what agent had been used on them. 

Mind you, you may have to contend with having to don your gas mask, warning others who might be around first. Then put on your suit, whilst figuring out which injection to stick yourself with. And depending on how and when you realized an agent had been released. You may have to inject yourself with your mask and suit on as quickly as possible. Then help others.

So, all this brings me to yesterday. I was having a meeting with someone I knew very little about, superficial stuff. As we waited for another person to check on something, I said. "So, here I was ordering canned sardines to cover me through the winter. Because, you never know."

She paused her look, "Is something going to happen?" I replied, "No. But. Hey. Why do I want to enter a store during the height of flu season when I can't handle a flu shot and I know my auto-immune system is not in peak condition. Hey, I'm in my mid-sixties. Right?"

She then responded in such a way which revealed much about her medically. We had time, we chatted a bit further. 

Fast-forward to this morning, as I'm reading about old chemical agent attacks. Its not about paranoia. Its about awareness. Its about the state of our nation, how people think or their lack in doing so.

The person yesterday in the meeting hadn't even thought about anything remotely in that vein, till I brought it up. I preface it with, "You should always be prepared." We were in a federal building, so I watched my words. I watch my inferences. That's not paranoia. That's tactfulness, as I gently allay fears. Yet, I give awareness to possibilities and the realities as a sign of our times.---Jody-Lynn Reicher