I'd like to talk about illness and the human experience. This topic called into focus the depth of my journey, the journey I'm taking to see beyond the confines of the physical body and into the vast possibilities and indestructible nature of the spirit. Health has been a concern of mine for some time, not necessarily because I've been in bad health, but for some "unknown" reason, experiencing a disease or illness has been something I've feared in my life. Past life related? Possibly. But I'm going to move beyond that and dig a bit deeper today.
In today's culture, especially in certain spiritual circles, there's an emphasis on avoiding illness. Whether it be through maintaining a strict diet, exercise plan, stress relief techniques, and even spiritual healing, we're always looking for ways to avoid getting sick and ultimately dying. The goal of being at optimal health is one of the reasons why many people in spiritual circles, seek healers. They want to be completely free of health issues or at least get some relief. Who can blame them? I for one believe our minds have a profound effect on our physical health and sometimes resolving issues within the mind's programming can bring healing to the physical body. But let's go deeper..
One of the things I've come to realize on my journey is that the possibility of illness is part of the human experience. Actually, let me rephrase that. Illness is a part of the physical experience. One day I was out on one of my usual nature outings, when I saw a beautiful tree. This tree had beautiful pods that looked like berries on it; Some of the pods were green and some were black. And the black pods were so fragrant! I had to see what kind of tree this was! I did a Google search to see if I could find the name of this beautiful tree. I then came across an article which talked about which trees are prone to certain illnesses. I took a second because something happened. Something clicked. Everything in nature has the potential to experience illness: plants, animals and humans. In our quest to avoid illness, we are exerting a great amount of opposition to it. Now this isn't to say that we need to let ourselves go and drink alcohol on the couch all day. Not at all. In fact, I love healthy food, exercising and doing whatever keeps me feeling good. What I am saying however, is that it would be interesting to explore the motivations behind our actions. When we are in resistance to illness, we energize it, giving it more power over our lives. And sometimes in our resistance to it, we can cause ourselves added stress. So when we're exercising, eating organic fruits and vegetables, balancing our chakras, what do we hope to accomplish? Do we wish to avoid getting sick altogether? Is it illness that we fear? Or is it death? Probably both. No one likes the idea of having to take medication or being limited to a hospital bed. People also don't like the idea of dying...the pain we may or may not feel, the unknown that awaits us on the other side, those that we'll leave behind. But whether we like it or not, we are on the same journey to leave this Earth and many of our efforts are to avoid or prolong the duration of time we have before this event takes place.
I had to sit down with myself and reflect on this, as my fears of health issues crept up again. I realized that my resistance to being ill was making things worse for myself. It dawned upon me that I had to at least open myself up to the possibility that at some point, something could go wrong. That was the only way I'd be able to find peace. Doesn't mean something will go wrong but if it does what does that truly mean?
Nothing.
This is what the body does. It experiences kinks, problems and imbalances, sometimes starting early in our lives and other times waiting until we reach old age. Very few people are in perfect health. I had to realize that although there's nothing wrong with society's view on health and fitness, I had to release my resistance to being sick because my resistance was adding stress I didn't need. In fact, in order to truly be at optimal health, there needs to be acceptance of whatever issues we may have. What I've come to realize, is that no matter how much effort we put into staying healthy, some health issues may be unavoidable. Just like any other event that happens in our lives we don't like, we may not understand why. Do I want to be perfectly healthy? Absolutely. But will this be the case for my entire life? I don't know. I'll have to see.
The longer I live, the more I see the many facets of my journey and what I need to learn. Part of my journey involves moving beyond the illusions of the Earth, mastering the mind and seeing the power that exists beyond the physical body. The physical body is beautiful and capable of so much. Whenever I remember, I thank my body for all it does to keep me here. I am so grateful for it. But it is just that...a vessel. And I, we, are so much more....than that. What an interesting journey to be on. I rest.
Much love,
Saiedah
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