“First, do no harm.”

A good reminder from Subhan

“First, do no harm.” This is a phrase that originated over 2000 years ago in the early days of medicine.

When I began inquiring into my life many years ago, I read this phrase, and felt that it was a good starting point – to do no harm to myself.

That led to asking myself if I was ever harming myself. Wow! This inquiry began to reveal many, many hidden ways in which I was creating misery and pain in my life! I was shocked at how unconscious I was, which had led to my not taking care of myself.

This inquiry continues to this very day! I am amazed at the number of unconscious things that I still do – that still happen – that make life difficult for me, as well as potentially harmful for others.

But knowing this, and recognizing this, has been a wake-up call. It opens up new understandings, especially how important it is to watch what I’m doing – to invite a little more consciousness. After all, there are 86,400 seconds in each day; and I can certainly find ways to be more watchful and “re-own” some of those seconds, with a little bit of awareness.

Then, the process shifts into understanding how I can truly take care of myself.

Many times I’ve just stopped and asked myself, “What can I do right now to take care of myself?” Just asking the question can wake me up for an instant… and bring me more in touch with what I am doing. Then, the door opens to doing things that enhance the quality of life. From eating nutritious food; to meditating; to finding ways to relax the body, which helps the mind to slow down; to sharing experiences and understandings with others.

And I’ve found that starting with me has brought awareness and support in understanding how to treat others. In fact, they feel to be one and the same! When I am tender and caring with myself, it naturally extends to others. And when I am not, that too can extend to others.

So today is a new day, full of the possibilities of watching how I do – and don’t – take care of myself; and finding ways to enhance the quality of my life. This can then morph into a genuine caring for others.

I certainly wish you a day full of taking care of yourself!

[PS This early inquiry parallels what I later heard Osho say about love! He said that rather than looking for love, which is a real unknown mystery to most of us, we should look for “unlove.” Just a little prodding revealed how many unloving things I had done that created difficulty and pain for others, as well as myself.]

This article was first posted on Facebook – reproduced here with the author’s permission