Itchy

Today I am grateful for a good training run for Darcy and I yesterday and for the continued favorable weather. I am also grateful for what life's challenges and frustrations can teach me.

Today's word is itchy, a feeling that can apply in a couple of ways. Bug bites and dry skin can leave me feeling itchy. In those instances it is easy to scratch where it itches. But not too much. Putting some lotion on the dry skin or alcohol on the bug bites helps and keeps me from drawing blood, which only makes the discomfort worse and prolongs the healing.

There's another kind of itchy that is caused from within and doesn't respond to topical ointment. My friend Jill dubs it "itchy, scratchy" or "itchy, twitchy, and __________."  I'm sure you can figure out the third word that rhymes with the first two.

It certainly applies to me when I feel irritable and discontented. I am not pleasant to be around. And I am not pleasant in my own head, beating myself up because "I know better than to act that way." I can compound the irritation by fueling it, or I can ease it by letting go and moving forward.

Feeling itchy, in both ways, makes me human and helps me feel alive. Feeling alive means experiencing the gamut of emotions and pain. Itchy can be minor on that continuum, but still a good teacher.

When the source of the itch is exterior, it tends to leave more quickly. When the source of the discontent rests in my mind, heart, and soul, then I need to redouble my efforts to live gratefully, practice forgiveness, pray to my Higher Power, and talk it out with someone I trust.

When you are itching from the inside, what brings healthy relief?

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