Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Changing Dialogue

Four months ago, we made a big change in our household: we kicked our addiction to drugs out the door.  No, not the illicit kind.  We haven't been smoking pot or crack, and the only coke in our house comes in a red can (and yes, I know, I should kick that too).  The drugs we were addicted to were the ones on the counter: the cough syrups, ibuprofen, naproxen, and loads and loads of sinus and allergy medications that were taking over our space.  It was a radical change, but one that has made an incredible difference in our lifestyle and our dialogue around home.

It all started with my freaky friend Melissa (who gets the nickname only because I love her so dearly she merits getting a nickname) who has been using homepoathic treatments in her family forever and had been trying to get me to do the same.  If you know me at all, you know that I do NOT go with the flow.  I am not a follower, and I am not going to try something just because you say it works.  I have to see it to believe it.  And I've done just that.

In September, we made a trip back to our beloved Pensacola and stayed with Melissa.  My five year old, Sean, had had a cough for months that we were treating with a honey cough syrup but that just would not go away.  Melissa used one of her natural essential oils on him, a blend called RC, and it worked!  He stopped coughing.  So I decided, upon her suggestion, to try using lavender oil for my allergies.  Understand... you say plant, and I start to sneeze and my eyes start to water.  I have taken just about every prescription known to man and almost every OTC sinus medication as well.  Some worked, some didn't.  Some worked but left me feeling too groggy to accomplish anything.  I began using the lavender and noticed an immediate change - not just in my allergy symptoms, but also with the headaches that I had been having all of the time.  I have gone from taking allergy medicine two or three times a day to not taking it at all.  I have not had one pill since the day I started using the lavender.

Western medicine has its place.  I am not going into surgery without it.  And sometimes we do have infections and such that need an antibiotic.  But how many times are we pumping ourselves with synthetic substances that are not truly making us well?  They are just masking our symptoms and often making us dependent on the drugs. 

So, I've fallen.  Hook... line... sinker.  I am a convert.  So much so, that I am not only now using sixteen different oils, but I am also working as an independent consultant for Young Living, a company that prides itself in using the highest quality plants and processes to extract the purest oils to promote healthy living.  These are the substances that were used in Biblical times when ancient doctors couldn't give you a prescription for Zyrtec or hydrocodone but could use the natural substances that God created for healing.  In his creation, God gave us EVERYTHING we need for life -- that includes the plants and fruits that we can use to stay healthy.

I guess I have even become "freaky" myself.  I've begun to introduce Young Living products to the people around me.  I have a dear friend with asthma that was out of options medicinally.  I gave her RC and she is chugging through this winter healthier than she has been in years.  She's beginning to stock up her cabinet with essential oils -- though she tells people that I've given her snake oil.  I deserve it... it's tit for tat for calling Melissa freaky for so long.  You know, what goes around comes around.

In any case,  the dialogue in our family has changed radically.
Have a headache?  Grab some peppermint.
Muscles cramping after a hard day at work?  Grab some marjoram.
Shouldn't have eaten that fried food?  Grab the peppermint (again).
Want to play outside but not WITH the bugs? Rub on some citronella.
Stressed out?  Love the lavender.
Want the kids to calm down?  Grab the cedarwood. (Except with my 3-year-old Abbie-- for whom this seems to have the REVERSE effect because she is a special, joyful child in her own right and must always go against the flow and do her own thing.)

The most signficant thing to me is that I am no longer putting crap in my kids' bodies to try to make them feel better.  No more ingredients that I can't pronounce in our medication.  We are using a dialogue that makes us feel better than we have in a long time and it's all natural.

And the cutest thing is anytime anyone complains about any hurt, ailment, etc.,  Abbie says, "You need mell-a-loo-ka."

If you're interested in changing your medical dialogue, check out Youngliving.com or contact me for more information.  Here's hoping everyone can feel as great as we do!