Address Your Immediate Needs

Regardless of how lofty your aspirations and goals or how well you’ve planned it all out; you cannot create a new life while your house is on fire or under water. In order to be successful, you must address your immediate needs. Oftentimes we want to put the obvious and most important things in our lives on a back burner and minimize their urgency, because we don’t want to face—or are ready to deal with—the commitment and investment of time and energy needed to address these issues. Like children, who love desert—but don’t want to eat the vegetables first--we want to skip over the mundane tasks and obstacles which seem to block us from getting to the “good stuff,” which we think will create a brilliant and new life. However, when we realize the “spinach and broccoli” we’ve been trying to avoid will help us grow, we can accept and deal with the very thing(s) which seem to impede our progress. Once addressed there is a booster effect, which will catapult us exactly where we want to be. It is part of the process to progress.

What are your immediate needs? Why do some people tend to be oblivious about them, experience difficulty with having them met or completely avoid them? An American psychologist, Abraham Maslow illustrated the order of human needs in a pyramid. At the foundation of the pyramid are our basic physical needs: water, food, warmth and rest. I would add air to this list and sum it all up as health—which is what I’m focusing on here. Air may seem obvious; however, many of us don’t realize how much we are being affected by carbon monoxide emissions, mold and other toxic substances, right in our very homes! Installing detectors is a good safety measure; and taking a pause from whatever is going on in your life to go to the beach, somewhere green or anywhere the air is better than where you presently are, will invigorate your body, mind and spirit. Breathe deeply—really deeper. Shallow breathing not only doesn’t supply you with enough oxygen, it keeps you tense and stressed. You may have to force yourself out of an age-old habit and re-learn to fill and empty your lungs—remember, practice makes improvement. Secondly, good quality water is something we cannot take for granted—as it has been brought to our attention by people in Newark N.J., who are dealing with lead in their drinking water, and areas which have suffered major climatic devastation, i.e. Bahamas (where drinkable water has become contaminated and now scarce).

Dehydration is a major contributor to imbalances in the body and mind: Alzheimer’s, high blood pressure and depression have been linked to not having enough water in the system. People with diabetes also have increase risks of dehydration, and the list goes on. Water is a nutrient—plain water. The reality of modern living is our water must be filtered/purified; and stored in glass is better than plastic.

Are you getting all of the nutrients—or even close to what your body needs on a daily basis? When we get really honest with ourselves, there are those of us who know something about nutrition and can still say a definite “NO!” Imagine if you are someone who is having a challenge buying quality or enough food for yourself and/or your family. If you are a person who eats any and everything, regardless of what’s in it or how It’s prepared, you are most likely nutrient deficient. It takes some consciousness and effort to feed yourself properly. It’s one of the top mundane tasks a lot of us don’t want to commit to and deal with. Innately we feel we shouldn’t have to think about everything that goes into our mouths-- and it’s true, we shouldn’t—but the reality is we need to. When we have knowledge and apply good habits, it becomes second nature; and it’s not something we need to obsess over.

Rest is a vital component on the list of immediate needs. Who do you know—including yourself—that truly gets enough rest on a regular basis? I don’t know anyone. It’s something so many people struggle with. Even people I know who are retired-- and don’t have the pressure of jumping out of bed at the sound of the alarm clock--have unhealthy sleeping patterns. Sometimes we aren’t really resting when we think we are resting. The mind is still going during supposed down time—even during sleep. Proof of this is: falling asleep with something on your mind, finding yourself still mentally processing during and in between dreams and it’s the first thing on your mind when you wake up.

Warmth may or may not be an issue for some people. Maslow was referring to having an appropriate and comfortable temperature in whichever environment we are in—be it home or the workplace. If you are working on a job that doesn’t have heat in the cold season or cooling when it’s hot you need to do something about it. If you can’t change it—make a way to leave. So many people are subjected to and subject themselves to seriously substandard conditions, because they do not want to risk losing their homes or source of income. In the long run there is far more to lose if your health is being jeopardized. What good are you to yourself or anyone, with pneumonia or heat-stroke?

For many people, dealing with their health issues is the thing they tend to procrastinate on. Some of this goes back to "Feeling and Facing Your Fears" (it would be a good idea to read that previous post—or re-read it, if you already have.) If you don’t feel well, suspect-- or have been diagnosed with an illness-- it will only benefit you to address it. If you are not comfortable or don’t like the type of treatments your doctor is offering you, seek another viewpoint and alternative methods. This is your life! Do your homework/research. We live in an age of technology and you can use your phone or laptop to scroll through articles, medical journals and even listen to audiobooks online. If your energy is too low even for that, ask for help from someone willing to assist you.

These basic needs may not be what you have in mind as your immediate needs (more than likely you do have a couple of them). Most people have these and some higher up on the pyramid: safety needs, belonging and love needs, esteem needs, or self- actualization needs. Whatever your immediate needs are for you in this moment, address them. I focused on basic health needs, because without them being addressed nothing else is possible.

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