Today I want to talk to you about finding the gifts when you are struggling with illness.
Do you like feeling sick? I know I don’t like feeling sick. Most people don’t like feeling sick, whether it is for the short term or the long term.
I recently had a reactivation of the EBV virus, also known as mono, or the kissing virus. I’m tired all the time. I don’t have the energy to do the things that I like to do, or normally would do. I have lung pain, on and off.
Somewhere along the way, though, I’ve really received some gifts from this experience.
It can be difficult to identify positive experiences when you are struggling with illness. We all struggle to appreciate the journey, and we are not always conscious of the growing that we are doing as people. I think that it is important to reflect upon how we adapt to accommodate illness into our lives, and to find gratitude for the positive changes that can accompany such a struggle.
Here are three things that have fundamentally changed for me over the past few weeks:
Presence
My illness forces me to be more present in my body. I don’t have the energy to make big plans for all the things that I want to do. Usually I’m a big planner, but I don’t have the energy for that right now, so I’m spending more time being in my body, in the here and now, focusing on my healing as I make this journey.
Mood
I worry less! I don’t have the energy to worry. All the little things that used to bother me just aren’t bothering me, because I don’t have the energy to pay attention to them. And I feel better for it!
Learning
I have learned so much, during this process of learning how to heal myself, that I have new tools with which to help others. I am so excited about this – I love being able to share my knowledge and experiences with others. I love helping people. Had I not gotten sick, I would not have added these tools to my armory.
Moving Forward
What gifts have you received during your journey?
How can you find the purpose of being sick? How can you move forward in your healing, on your journey?
If you are struggling with finding out what’s going on with your body, and with how you can move forward, please reach out to me. I am here for you. I am so excited to be able to share with you some of the tools that I have been learning about in my own self-healing journey.
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