I know that sounds backwards. Counter-intuitive. Wrong somehow. But think about it.
I don’t remember which of my spiritual teachers asked me this question many, many years ago, or what the circumstances were, but I have thought about it often since and shared it with my own students and clients whenever appropriate.
If you’re sick, or hurt, it’s easy to think of all the things you will gain by getting well again. It’s kind of like a “bucket list” of sorts, and one would think that list would be motivation and inspiration enough to speed one’s healing.
But there’s a flip side to all this — and it’s not easy to look at. And that’s the list of all the things you will be giving UP when and if you get well. After all, when you’re sick or hurt, especially chronically or “permanently,” there are many unique aspects of your life that could be viewed as “desirable.” Like:
- you get waited on hand and foot
- you get to stay in bed all day
- you don’t have to cook, clean, or lift a finger
- you get to numb your pain or angst with drugs
- you can sleep as much as you want
- you have a good excuse for being depressed
- you don’t have to fulfill all those goals you created
- if your dreams don’t come true it’s not your fault
- people fawn over you and send you special gifts and food
Basically, you don’t have to do much of anything you don’t want to do. That’s a pretty insidious influence if you ask me. It’s the path of least resistance, in a way. And, if allowed, it can be a detriment to healing, psychosomatically speaking.
For a long time there has been a negative connotation with the word “psychosomatic” in our culture. Technically, the word means “pertaining to physical diseases, symptoms etc. which have mental causes,” but that has been twisted to imply that the mental aspect of disease is “disturbed.” That may or may not be the case, but there is also that little edge to it that says the person who is ill has created his illness on purpose somehow. Thus the quip, “Oh, it’s all in your mind!”
The derogatory way that phrase is used is total caca, but the premise behind it is truer than we ever imagined.
Quantum physics has proved that everything that we manifest in our bodies is, in fact, linked to our psyche. So there is, absolutely, a direct connection between our thoughts and emotions and our physical condition. The two cannot be separated. And, no matter how conscious or unconscious those thoughts and emotions are, they are a paramount influence on our overall health.
I’m rambling. But what I’m really trying to say here is that examining our list of what we’d give up if we got well — and, more importantly, why we might not want to give up those things — can bring great insight into how we view the world (and our part in it) and pinpoint a few beliefs we might like to modify.
This is a hard exercise, believe me, I’ve done it. But it’s worth the delving and can only expand your self-awareness.
Think about it.
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GETTING WELL CAN BE SO HARD SOMETIMES. HERE’S ANOTHER TINY TIP THAT MIGHT HELP IF YOU ARE HAVING TROUBLE HEALING, AND IT MIGHT BE A TAD BIT EASIER THAN THE ABOVE:
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