Did you at one time have doctor or doctors tell you that your condition will be chronic and that, basically, you will never get well? That is was happened to me back in 1984 when my internist told me he had just read about a condition called, Chronic Epstein-Barr Virus Syndrome, and that is what he thought this mysterious illness was…No cure, no easy fix, just live with it. I decided that I would find out all I could about this condition and work on making my immune system as strong as possible to keep the virus dormant. I paced myself, took a nap everyday, ate healthy food, took supplements. That is how I lived until about a year and a half ago.
I read a book by Lewis Mehl-Madrona, M.D, called “Coyote Wisdom” and it changed the way I thought about the illness. There were multiple stories of people in the book who used what had meaning to them to get well or at least change their thinking about their condition. I decided that I did not have to believe what the doctor(s) said and that I had to believe that I would get well. Your belief becomes your biology. I would change the belief that was limiting me. I would still do all I was doing to stay healthy, but I would also go try some things I thought I couldn’t do. I would push myself a little when reluctant to push myself a little. And it worked. I felt stronger and healthier. I let my body guide me, instead of blindly following what the practitioners were telling me. (see work by Byron Katie). Granted, I still do all the things I was doing before to stay healthy, I just changed my thinking.
If you would allow me, I will point to a story in the Gospel of John (John 5:1-8) (because Scripture has meaning for me, for you it could be something else) about an invalid of 38 years who had waited at a certain pool at Bethesda that had healing properties for someone to help him get in the pool. Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time. He asked him, “Do you want to get well?” When the man answered that someone else always got into the pool before him Jesus said, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” And at once the man was cured.he picked up his mat and walked..So I ask you the same thing, “Do you want to get well?”
Jane Springer is a certified Life, Wellness and Style Coach who assists women in taking care of themselves, in body, mind and spirit. She coaches women who want to lose weight, avoid diabetes, and feel great. She also helps them thrive after divorce. She also helps them to clear their closets of old clothes and outdated attitudes, so they can shine and feel confident.