Focus:
Trusting the signals our own bodies give us.
Repetition:
My body speaks to me and I am learning to listen.
Thirst, hunger, rest, and rhythm are gifts.
I trust the wisdom God built into me.
Resilient, Not Immune
One hundred weeks. Look at what you have done, and look at who you have become.
Before we finish, I want to say something plainly, because it matters. We are not immune to health issues. We are resilient, far more resilient than we ever would have been without this work. But we are still modern humans living in a modern world. We may still have accidents. We may still get sick. We may still receive a diagnosis one day, our own or a loved one’s. I would be doing you a disservice if I let you believe otherwise.
What This Lifestyle Is Actually About
This lifestyle was never a promise that nothing hard will happen to us again. It is about resiliency, wisdom, and charity.
Resiliency, because a body with a rebuilt terrain, a fed microbiome, restored minerals, and a regulated nervous system handles whatever comes far better than it used to. Wisdom, because we now understand how a body works, what it needs, and how to think clearly instead of reacting in fear. Charity, because all of this was given to us so that we could love well.
We want every day to be full of service, peace, love, and joy, because of the suffering we have been gifted. That word “gifted” is not a slip of the tongue. Our suffering is what taught us all of this. It is what made us gentle, patient, discerning, and useful to other people. It is what brought many of us to our knees and, from there, to God.
You Have Been in the Wilderness
You have been in the wilderness, and you have come out of that journey a different person.
Scripture is full of wilderness. Israel wandered for forty years, and it was in the wilderness that they learned who God was and how He fed them. Our Lord Himself went into the desert for forty days before He began His work.
The wilderness is not punishment. It is formation. You went in sick, afraid, and full of other people’s answers. You came out with a healed body, a quiet mind, and a rhythm of life that is truly your own. Nothing can take that formation away from you.
If Suffering Comes Again
And if another suffering does arise, listen to me. You are not starting over. You now know how to support your body. You know how to feed it, calm it, warm it, rest it, and give it time. You know how to read what is happening instead of panicking. You know how to ask better questions and how to find good counsel.
You also know something even more important. You know how to continue to grow in virtue, both because of suffering and despite it. You have done it once already. Suffering, met with faith, makes saints of ordinary people, and you have the proof of it in your own story.
This Was Never About Longevity
I want to be very clear about this too. This path has never been about longevity. We cannot control how long we live, no matter how well we eat, how carefully we sleep, or how faithfully we tend our terrain. That is completely out of our control, and what a blessing that is! The number of our days belongs to God, and not to us, and not to our protocol.
“Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your lifespan?” (Matthew 6:27)
We are not trying to live forever. We are trying to live well, to be useful, to be present, and to be ready. Let that free you from the anxious, measuring way of eating and living that so much of the health world is built on.
Stay Present in Each Day
Remember to stay present in each day. Not in the next test result, not in the fear of what might come, and not in the version of yourself you were five years ago. Today, with this meal, this walk, this person in front of you, this prayer.
Continue to live the best life for you, and not the one someone else has designed. Your rhythm, your foods, your work, your family, your seasons.
Keep Your Foundations
Keep your foundations, always. Real food, meat stock, your ferments, good fats, mineral-rich salt, and slow meals at a table. Sleep, sunlight, dark nights, movement, silence, and prayer.
And if you ever need to, go back to a full healing rhythm without shame or hesitation, because you have the knowledge now. You know how to feed and rebuild the microbes. You know how to use light and darkness, and how to use breath and frequency. You know how to regulate your nervous system and bring yourself out of fight or flight. You know how to use nature, the earth under your feet, and the sun on your skin. You know how to rest, truly rest. You know how to support detox gently, and when to slow it down. You know how to tell die-off from a setback, and how to be patient with both.
It is all within you now. No one can take it from you, and you will never again be at the mercy of someone else’s opinion about your own body.
One Hundred Weeks
Thank you for walking this with me. Whatever comes, you are not the person who started Week One.
Be at peace, be present, serve where you are, love the people in front of you, and keep going gently.
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7)