Arena

When I was a kid, I liked the Star Trek series. The original series- Kirk, Spock, McCoy- all of them. One early episode that caught my attention was titled "Arena" and it concerned Captain Kirk battling a Gorn (some type of lizard being) captain on an isolated planet. Neither captain could use their personal advanced weapons on the other. Neither captain was able to bring reinforcements from their respective ships which were in orbit around the planet. Neither captain could use the advanced weapons on their respective ships. No easy solutions. No outside help of any sort. Only the raw materials which were to be found on the planet could be used to defeat the other. Each could choose hand-to-hand combat (Kirk declined as the alien was far too strong), throw rocks or sticks at one another (which would only wound) or figure out something more effective using the raw materials around them. Kirk, obviously, defeated the Gorn since Star Trek continued, Gorn-less, each week going forward. What stuck with me was not the drama of "how will Kirk get himself out of this predicament?", but rather the idea that everything he needed to survive was there all around him. Now years later, I reflect on that same idea as it pertains to wellness. What we require, what we need, for wellness and balance for our lives can be found all around us. We just have to do the work of finding those things and weaving them into our lives.