Sweat and Tears

I was sitting in the sauna the other day and realized that the amount of sweat coming out of my skin was incredible. Was it just sweat, simply the excretion of moisture to cool my body in a terribly hot situation or was it a purging of water and toxins from my body. Likely both. Like sweat, tears also serve multiple purposes. Tears are our way to purge emotions good, bad or ugly. Emotions in themselves can be toxic or healthful. Like sweat, tear's chemical make up is that of saline and water. The vehicle of release for our bodies. I can't control for tears in certain environments and I can't control for sweat in certain environments...funny how that works out. Tears or sweat will come without my say. It's like trying to capture an ocean in your hand. Stopping tears or sweat is just as futile.

Tears over sadness and joy ...both are equal, a reaction to the stimuli. Sweat in physical pressure or stress, a reaction to stimuli.

Sometimes I hear my brother saying, "Don't sweat the small stuff kiddo!" and wonder what is small stuff when we usually can't control for any of it, big or small!

Sometimes I hear my mother saying, "Don't cry over spilled milk!" and know that even the tiniest amount of loss can still account for a tear.

Looking at the past few years and knowing what has gone by and what has transpired has ranked as some of the toughest times in my life. The tears of joy, babies being born, marriages, new opportunities for happiness and especially the new relationships that bring happiness to our lives.

The tears of sadness, heartache and broken hearted. The tears of disappointment over loss, my shortcomings and the voids left unfilled in our lives.

Do these equal the amount of sweat I have also shed? I think it has. Sweat over moving to a new home, renting out the old house, a new job, working to improve my health and attitude. Sweating over a worry, approval of others, meeting deadlines, making appointments, finding time to make everyone feel valued and wanted. Sweating over my shortcomings and failures. Knowing it is just that reaction to something internal and how I define it. My tears or my sweat. I own them. I have to learn to let them be. Let them flow. I have to find the purpose in their function and hope to gain insight into how they heal and give fluidity to my life and my life song. Now it is just that, time to swim in my sweat and tears. Taste them, be mindful of them and to also rinse them off to not allow them to cloud my vision.

2012 is here and now I can't know and understand what I am supposed to do but am ready for it none the less. All of it worthwhile in in purpose. Grateful.