on LIFEACHE

A HERBAL Remedy for LIFEACHE.
by the cartoonist Michael Leunig

Your whole life is sore; it hurts when you move it.
HERBAL REMEDY.
Take one patch of grass, a mild day and two large, green trees.
Lie on the grass beneath one tree and contemplate the other tree.
Nap from time to time or gaze occasionally at the grass.
Pain will subside. Lifeache cannot be cured but you can learn to MANAGE THE SYMPTOMS.

**the cartoon version is better, but i can't find one..

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Headaches and Lifeaches
By Laurie Kiel
04/30/04

The headache begins tentatively, lightly tapping the inside of my temples politely asking for attention. I ignore it and go about my daily distractions. The tapping turns to pounding, as the headache refuses to be dismissed. I pick up the aspirin bottle, preparing to swallow a handful of hoped for relief. I set it down, and pick up a large glass of water. Not to wash down the aspirin but to replace it. I down the water, and then another, and another. And slowly, the headache subsides. It was a dehydration headache. It’s easy to misdiagnose since a headache, not thirst, is the cry for water.

My lifeache begins tentatively, lightly tapping the inside of my heart politely asking for attention. I ignore it and go about my daily distractions. The tapping turns to pounding, as the life ache refuses to be dismissed. I’m depressed, irritable, unsatisfied. I’m tempted to drown my sorrows in food, in television , or in reading a tabloid. But instead I pick up God’s Word, water to my thirsty soul. It was a dehydration life ache. It’s easy to misdiagnose since a lifeache, not spiritual thirst, is the cry for God’s water.

The best way for me to avoid that dehydration headache is to keep drinking deep of fresh, clear water and keep myself fully hydrated. The best way for me to avoid a life ache is to keep drinking deep of the fresh clear water of the Word and keep myself fully spiritually hydrated.

Whether it’s a life ache or a headache, distraction will never cure dehydration. But God’s wonderful water will… if I only drink it in.