Picture this.

Your friend, Jane, says she wants to lose 30 pounds by the summer. She started on the 1st of the year with a new years resolution to lose the weight. She exercised 30 mins one day the first week and cut out ice cream. She continued eating pasta and bread sticks for lunch ever day, but she had a salad every Sunday. The second week Jane exercised two times, 10 mins on Wednesday, and 45 mins on Friday. She skipped cake at the birthday party on Saturday, but had a cappuccino and donuts before church the next day. Now, in Mid-March, she only has two colas a day, and hasn’t exercised since February 3rd. She can’t understand why she has only lost 4 pounds.

George got a cold last winter. He put off going to the doctor for weeks. Finally when he did he had a list of prescriptions to be filled with very specific instructions of how and when to use them and for how long. Following the directions to the ‘T’, he began feeling better within 24 hours.

Steve caught the same cold and went right to the doctor, but didn’t take the time to fill his prescriptions right away, and when he did, only got one, and didn’t consistently take the medicine like indicated on the label. He felt a little better, but still didn’t get as much relief as George.

What can we learn from these stories?

Random, inconsistent, halfhearted effort will produce little to no positive results. (or negative results for that matter). No results. period.

When consistent, proper proportions and good effort is put out, good results will inevitably follow.

In regards to natural health and wellness: Herbs and essential oils should be incorporated into a healthy lifestyle. Much like exercise. You will not grow stronger and leaner muscles without consistent exercise everyday or every other day. You will not grow a healthier immune system drinking surgery drinks everyday and not taking your natural, immune supporting supplements every day.

When illness does come (and it will; even to the healthiest), don’t start throwing herbs at it or dousing it in oil and expect to be better the next day. (If you are a consistent herb/oil user, you may feel the benefits of upping your good stuff to support health, but even then, a cold will sometimes just have to run its course, and herbs/oils can support, sooth and comfort during the process.)

Effort produces results

So, you tried oils? You diffused Thieves everyday for a week, and you didn’t feel better?

You put peppermint in your water once and think it calmed your tummy (but it may have been the tums you ate before).

You were told that roller blend would help your kid study for the test, but the 5 times you tried it you really didn’t see a difference.

Maybe you heard that vitality cinnamon bark essential oil was supposed to support your blood sugar so you put 5 drops in 8 ounces of water…. your mouth and lips burned like fire for 2 hours straight and you vow to never use oils again.

You read on that one blog that there is research that says clary sage causes uterine contractions so you have sworn it off for any female ever. But if you had actually read the study (not the blogger), you would have learned that the study was preformed on the uterus’s of cows that had been surgically removed from their abdomens and the oil dropped directly on top. Water would cause a contraction in that circumstance. (Don’t remove your uterus from your abdomen and drip clary sage oil on it, please, nothing good would ever come of that).

You, dear reader, are smarter than this.

I don’t mean to offend, on the contrary, I hope to encourage you to be the smart self I know you are!

The title of this is quite specific, “Eh, I tried ‘natural stuff’, but it didn’t work for me”, but really, this mind set could and should be applied to every aspect of our lives. Slip in any category of your life to take the spot of ‘natural stuff’ in the sentence above. You want a promotion? Show up and work harder than everybody else. You’re relationships are floundering? Make the effort to spend quality time with loved ones, putting down your phones and really listening to each other. Want to clearly hear from God? Have you stopped for 30 seconds and actually read His word today, this week, this month? Listen, and serve and put in the effort, He will speak to you. It’s not easy, but nothing worth having comes easy, right?

You are an empowered person with so many resources and studies and information at your fingertips! You are in the information age, use it to your advantage! Educate yourself everyday and, by golly, put some effort into your healthy lifestyle regimen!

reg·i·men

noun

noun: regimen; plural noun: regimens

1. a prescribed course of medical treatment, way of life, or diet for the promotion or restoration of health.