Four Rooms

“There is an Indian proverb that says that everyone is a house with four rooms, a physical, a mental, an emotional and a spiritual. Most of us tend to live in one room most of the time but unless we go  into every room every day, even if only to keep it aired, we are not a complete person.” — Rumer Godden

In which room do you spend most of your time?

It’s silly, but I’m kind of afraid of my answer to this question. I’m sitting here thinking and thinking about it, which tells me it’s the mental for me. Why am I afraid of that? I’m in my head quite a bit these days, but I don’t live there like I used to. Or maybe I should say (write?) that my head is a safer room for me these days than it used to be. It’s often said in the (12 step) rooms that an addict or alcoholic alone is in bad company, or  the inside of an addict or alcoholic’s head is a bad neighborhood to wander alone. Although that speaks more to isolating when you are in a bad space. As I wrote in my blog post this past Tuesday “The Best Laid Plans”, I’ve gotten pretty good at self-soothing or taking care to reach out when I’m in a bad space.

When I wake up every morning I thank my Higher Power, whom I choose to call God, for another day clean and sober. Then I spend time praying, meditating or reading daily recovery readings. This is my spiritual room. To be honest there are days when I barely air it out, but I go into it nonetheless.

I view my emotional nature as a blessing now. That was not always the case as I was trained and taught from an early age not to be. But today I honor my emotions when they come up by first allowing them their space inside me, then I acknowledge my emotions and allow them to pass. I rarely hang onto or wallow in them. This has been a valuable learned tool in my emotional sobriety.

My physical room has been looking and feeling pretty good as of late. I am making healthier choices with my food and drink lots of water throughout the day and night. My Yoga and walking are improving with hiking just on the horizon. So my physical room is barely aired maybe 1 or 2 days a week but I hit it up on the regular.

I believe I am a balanced person progressing towards completion… Yeah, I like the sound and feel of that.

How about you and your rooms?