Fearful as reality is, it is less fearful than evasions of reality.
—Caitlin Thomas
What would you do if a red light on the dashboard of your car suddenly went on, indicating that something was wrong? Would you wait a few days and hope that the problem resolves itself, in the meantime driving the car? Would you cover up the light with black tape so that you could no longer see it? Or would you take the car to a person who could diagnose the problem and fix it?
When your body has something wrong with it, it has one sure way of letting you know: pain. Pain is the body's red warning light. What do you do when the red warning light of pain goes on in your body? Do you wait a few days and hope that the problem will go away? Do you cover it up with pain medication (like putting black tape over the red light on your car)? Or do you pay attention to your body's signals, finding someone who can isolate the cause of the pain and help you get better?
Do you know how many different kinds of pain the body can have? Dull, sharp, throbbing, stabbing, loud, quiet, knifelike (dull or sharp), aching, burning, biting, piercing, severe, stinging, bruising, tender, irritating, inflamed, itching. The body has lots of little voices to tell you when something is wrong. I'm not referring to those slight aches and pains we all have now and then, but to those warning signals that last three days or longer. When the body has a minor pain that lasts more than three days, it needs to be taken seriously. This generally agrees with most medical advice, the three-day period giving your body time to heal itself, after which it may require some additional help. Something is wrong, and your body is trying to get your attention.
Unfortunately, many of us don't take our bodies seriously when they are talking to us. Here are some of the excuses I have heard from clients and friends:
What do you do when your body is sending you warning signals? Is the care you give your body as good as the care you give your car? Have you noticed that you will always find time to fix your car, but often neglect seeing a doctor due to your “busy schedule”? I can just hear some of you saying, “But that's different! I need my car to get around.” Yes, but how far are you going to go without a healthy body?
There are reasons we suffer from pain and illness. Illness is a way for us to get to know ourselves better. It's a tool to change the course of our lives. It's a teacher, a way to find freedom from the past. I strongly believe that pain and illness can be tremendous healers for us when we learn to look at them in a healthy way. And when we learn to listen to what our bodies are saying.
The first thing to do when faced with a health challenge is to still your mind. Get away from other people, their stories, their fears, their suggestions for remedies and doctors and healers, their cures and special diets. Get away by yourself so that you can quiet your fears and listen to your body. Get away so that you can listen to your own inner voice. Your illness is trying to speak to you. Be still and listen.
Whenever you are faced with a health challenge, there are solutions. Really, there are! The problem for many of us is that we have internalized the stories of people we knew who had horrible experiences with illness. We think that sharing our pain with others will provide some measure of relief; but it seems that as soon as we tell someone that we need surgery, or that we have cancer, they have a story totell us. This only serves to fuel our fears, and it is very difficult to still our minds when we are full of fear.
When I am doing a healing for a client, I start by clearing all the negative energy that surrounds that person. Much of this negative energy has come from other people who had no intention of sending fear-thoughts. But when you are concerned for your friends or loved ones who are sick, you may be sending them thought-loads of negative energy and fear, despite your loving intentions.
Think about the last time someone told you that she had cancer. When you saw that person again or talked to her on the telephone, what was your first thought? Was it, “How nice to hear from you”? Or was it, “Cancer?” When this happens it's as if you are denying that person's existence, focusing instead on her health challenge.
I am concerned whenever I encounter the New Age belief that we create our illnesses. This type of thinking produces feelings of guilt, shame, and loneliness in the people who are facing health challenges. That's the last thing they need.
I believe we choose illness on a soul level as a means of learning. There are no accidents. Webster's defines accidents as “unintended events that take place.” I believe that everything going on in this world of ours is in Divine Order, so I just can't buy the idea that there are unintended events taking place. Like magnets, we draw whatever happens to us. These “accidents” are full of lessons for our souls, our minds, and our bodies.
Remember that Jesus said, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” That means that you come first! Don't sit back and be a victim to whatever physical condition you are facing. The first thing to do when faced with a health challenge is to accept that it is truly happening. Then put on your detective hat and go to work figuring out what might be going on. What is happening in your body? What do you need to do to heal? Treat your body as the most important treasure you have.