Surrendering to Illness and Injury

Illness and injury. Not a fun topic I know but we all experience them from time to time. This month we've been talking about surrendering control so today I'm offering up a different perspective on dealing with injury and illness to help us all get through these trials with less pain and suffering. As I am dealing with some painful knee and back issues which have slowed me down, I have had time to reflect on health, illness, and managing our thoughts while we are going through the healing process. 

There are two types of suffering. The first is the actual physical condition: the migraine, the cancer, the broken bone, the hip pain. The second is the mental suffering that typically goes along with it if we are not careful. Thoughts such as "I'll never get over this", "This is going to ruin my life", "Woe is me, why did this happen?" You get the idea. Negative thinking compounds our suffering. 

I think we can all agree - illness or injury is not fun to deal with. We can't do the things we usually do like exercise or walk, dance or shop. We have to go to the doctors, undergo tests, xrays, mri's. All this sets us back from our regular routines and duties which adds to the stress. Often we may be housebound or worse, bedbound. And that's in addition to our physical symptoms which can be very painful and debilitating. Life seems to spin out of our control. So where is the good in all this?

Where is the good? 

Sometimes things happen that are just out of the blue, through no fault of our own. We catch the flu. We slip and break a bone. In these cases, jump to the section on thoughts and emotions. 

You know we are body, mind, and spirit, right? When one part is ailing or in pain, it notifies the other two parts. There is a message in our pain. Something needs to change. Illness or injury is a call to change. To doing things differently. To eating better. To making our bodies and our health a priority. To not overdo it. To slowing down. There is often an emotional component involved as well. What is driving us to overeat? Overexercise? Overdo? We must get to the root cause of the problem. 

Illnesses and injuries are often a result of some stored negative emotion such as anger, fear, resentment, perfectionism, and the like. We overeat because of stress. We over-exercise because of perfectionism. When we are ill or injured we are forced to slow down and do less which gives us an opportunity to be more introspective and more mindful. When we learn to surrender to what is and practice not stressing about what we cannot control, we can have more peace and enjoy our days despite our circumstances. 

Identify the thoughts and emotions
Our thoughts control our emotions and we have to control them, not the other way around.  It is important to identify what we are thinking and feeling during the day. Otherwise we will act out in unhealthy ways, such as overeating, overdoing, etc. and we will suffer more than we need to. 

To control the secondary suffering, try asking yourself "What am I feeling?" "What am I thinking?" on a regular daily basis. When you catch yourself thinking woe-is-me, I-am-doomed, victim-type thoughts, recalibrate. I have often found I have undealt with anger that causes several of my issues. I have learned to suppress my anger and often am quite unaware that I really am angry which manifests itself in physical symptoms -not good. Emotions sometimes are buried deep but they are the key to healing.

Speak out affirmations 
Instead of negative words and thoughts, speak out words of life and health. I use scripture to encourage me,because God is required to honor his word. One phrase I like is "God is healing me everyday in every way". "I will have a long and healthy life." For more on what the Bible says about health, check out this article, Health according to the Bible

Get the message  
Disease of the body and mind is usually related to spiritual/emotional issues that have not been resolved. Our bodies are speaking to us, but again, we have to be willing to listen. What is your body telling you these days? Am I doing too much? Are my priorities out of whack? Do I need to take better care of myself? Am I eating right? Getting enough sleep?

Take advantage of the downtime to rest, reflect, and relax. 

When we start loving ourselves radically we can change our biochemistry which lead to wellness. Ridding ourselves of negative energy makes room for our energy to rise and allows the body to heal itself without the use of meds and pharmaceuticals which can have serious side effects. More importantly, we can recognize and then change old thinking patterns which no longer serve us. 

Don't guilt yourself
In order to heal, the body needs positive energy flowing. Some call it "chi" or "prana". I call it Joy. Stuff happens. We all overdo from time to time. Guilting ourselves is not going to help us heal. False guilt sucks our energy that our body needs to heal. Take the necessary steps to get better, but try your best not to get down in the dumps for too long. Remember, this too shall pass. The body naturally wants to heal itself, but there is often more than one message in any injury or illness and it takes time to figure out what these messages are and what changes we need to make. Our task, in addition to healing our bodies, is to heal our minds and thought patterns. I always find out something about myself when I go through a illness or injury. 

Reflection
What can I do to physically, spiritually, and emotionally heal myself? What needs to change? Am I unhappy in my relationships? My career? Am I feeling joyful on a regular basis? Do I feel anger towards someone? What needs to change in my life? How can I change my thinking about this situation or condition? 

I hope this post has been helpful to you. My goal is to help us all achieve healing, wholeness, and harmony. If you enjoyed this article, consider signing up for my weekly posts by entering your email address in the box provided. You'll also receive my free eguide entitled "7 Steps to Finding Your Spiritual Path". I would love to hear from you so please comment below and connect with me on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram. 

Stay tuned for more on learning to surrender more and control less this month so you can ignite the power within and discover YOUR destiny!

Until next time, keep looking up!

Ariel Paz

How a Spiritual Path Can Alleviate Chronic Pain

Are you in pain? Back pain? Arthritis? Migraine? Cancer? You're not alone. The statistics are staggering and it's getting worse as the population ages. One in ten people or 100 million Americans and 1.5 billion people world-wide suffer from chronic pain which is defined as pain lasting every day for  three months or more. Chronic pain affects more Americans than cancer, diabetes and heart disease combined. 

According to author and back pain sufferer, Vidyamala Burch of the United Kingdom, there are two types of pain: primary suffering and secondary suffering. Primary suffering is the actual pain itself: the cancer, the arthritis, the migraine. Secondary suffering are the negative thoughts, feelings, emotions and memories we entertain that make the pain worse. These might include anxiety, worry, stress, depression, and feelings of hopelessness and exhaustion.

Our bodies and our minds are intricately connected. If we treat the body and not the mind we will still suffer intensely as we will not have addressed the full  spectrum of the pain. As I have often said and truly believe, we are body, mind, and spirit and all three parts need to be cared for.

This is where a spiritual path can help. It is these thoughts that destroy our peace, steal our joy, and cause us to fall into the depths of despair. When we have a spiritual practice, we learn not only to take control of our thoughts using techniques such as mindfulness and meditation, we also learn to replace these negative thoughts with positive ones through the use of passage meditation and prayer. Our mind is where the battle takes place and pain is another opportunity to train or, in most cases, retrain our minds, to focus on what is positive, healthy, and uplifting. When the doctors have done all they can, we have no other recourse except to work on our minds, our thinking, and our faith, because ultimately, God is the source of all healing.

As a long-time sufferer, disciple of Christ, and student of spirituality in its many forms, I can testify that a spiritual path, in particular, Christianity, is the solution to many, if not all, of the physical, spiritual, emotional and relational problems we each face in this life. Christianity teaches us to focus on the power of Faith in Christ who brings healing, peace, joy and new life. No other religion or belief system can provide the miraculous healing power than Christ who conquered death, raised the dead, and healed the sick. Read about some of my personal healing miracles in my book, "The Power of Faith: a journey to healing, wholeness, and harmony".

Do you have a spiritual practice? If you are interested in starting one, enter your email address in the box provided and I'll send you out my free eguide, "7 Steps to Finding Your Spiritual Path".  You'll also receive my bi-weekly posts to encourage, inspire, and uplift you.

I hope this post has encouraged you. Stay tuned for more positive and practical wisdom.

Until next time, keep looking up!

Ariel Paz

Feel free to use and share my content but do acknowledge me as the source. Thank you! 

Ignite the Power Within Step 5: What to Do When Life Doesn't Make Sense

Ever feel like you don't understand life? Why good people die? Why tragedies occur?   Why prayers go unanswered? Why we have to suffer? Most of us struggle with these questions.

I'm sure many felt that way on Sept. 11, 2001 when their lives were suddenly turned upside down by the impact of the terrorist bombings in New York, Pennsylvania, & Washington, DC. Loved ones said goodbye to their spouses never to kiss them again. Husbands were killed in the line of duty saving others. The stories are too many to list here, but I'm sure many asked these tough questions.

Perhaps some of you may be like me - I want to know why.  I want to find meaning. Friends tell me I'm a deep thinker and maybe that's true, but it can be frustrating trying to find answers to these tough questions.

Sometimes we go through times we don't understand. I went through a season a few winters ago when everything in my life hit the fan. Ever have that happen to you? We wonder why all these bad things are happening at once. We cry out "Abba, Father, help me", in desperation and in sorrow, and our voice seems to echo in the stillness.

The answer came when I turned to the words of Scripture. Who in the Bible suffered a lot?
Job of course.
So I began to read the book of Job when I came across this verse,
"Shall we accept only good from God and not also adversity and disaster?" (Job:2:10)
It struck me. This is life. Learn to accept it. We will not always understand everything that happens to us.

The reality is suffering and happiness go hand in hand. Life will not always be a bed of roses, nor will it always be trials and tribulations. This is the human experience. Having read much on the topic of suffering, the message from many traditions and belief systems is the same, learn to accept it.

What trial or tragedy are you going through? Have you lost hope? Faith? Joy?

Keep on trusting God. He will make a way where there seems to be no way. He will make your path straight. If we are faithful and obedient, we will arrive at the Promised Land of our dreams although we may not get there the way we expected. And we can be sure there will be suffering along the way.

Stay tuned for more positive and practical wisdom to help us all find healing, wholeness, health, and harmony!

 Until next time, keep looking up and do write and let me know your thoughts.


Ariel Paz

Suffering: How to Get Thru the Tough Times

Nobody likes to suffer. But guess what? Suffering is part and parcel of life. Suffering exists in many forms such as physical, mental, or emotional suffering. Somethings come on us from outside sources and some suffering we bring on ourselves through faulty beliefs and poor choices. People all over the world are suffering in one form or another and yes, some people suffer more than others.

As we all belong to the human family, I believe we are called to alleviate suffering or at least to comfort those who are in pain. So to that end, I am writing this post. It is not an easy topic to write on, but it is important and touches each of us deeply. Recent events prompted me to think about this topic once again and perhaps you, too.

A few weeks ago, I was at the Baltimore Book Festival and since my tastes tend towards things spiritual, I stopped at the Christian Science booth. The two women explained how they believe in the power of prayer to heal ourselves and others. All well and good. But when I googled the religion, it said this under their "What we believe" tab : "We believe it is not God's will for people to be sick, suffer, or die." Really? What about Job? What about Paul and Peter? What about the countless migrants immigrating from Syria? What about the single parents of society or those with handicapped children? What about all those with AIDS? Victims of hurricanes and natural disasters?

Many belief systems and self-help gurus claim to be able to help their followers transcend or avoid suffering. According to self-help guru, Tony Robbins, most people try their best to avoid suffering and seek pleasure. As much as we seek pleasure, can anyone really say for certain they can avoid suffering? How many wealthy and successful people are struck with disease or tragedy? Wealth is not a guarantee against suffering. Nor is a life spent pursuing enlightenment. Look at Buddha. Did he not suffer? I have several Buddhist friends and they don't seem to be the happiest bunch either. How many monks have taken ill or ended up destitute? Perhaps a different perspective may be helpful.

Could it be that suffering is, in fact, good for us? Now I know this runs contrary to popular opinion. As the verse in James says "Count it all pure joy when you go through many trials for they produce character," (James 1:2).Trials exist for a purpose. Trials help us grow and develop character, even the ones we don't understand. Job didn't understand why he had to endure so many trials. His wife told him to "Curse God and die," she was so disgusted and hopeless. But in the end, Job did learn something about God, himself, and his friends. Isn't that what trials are all about? Suffering exists to teach us about ourselves, others, and God and this is where Faith comes in.

But what if we don't have Faith? Many people are leaving the church today. Some don't even give a thought to their spiritual life. I often wonder how they survive the inevitable trials of life. If we have no faith or belief in the infinite goodness of God, it is easy to be overcome by suffering.

When people don't take the time to look deeper to search for a reason for their suffering, they lose hope and eventually take desperate measures such as killing themselves or other people. This is why people often turn to alcohol, drugs, or excess in some area of life to comfort them and take their minds off their troubles. What these people don't realize is until they take the time to seek an answer, their troubles are not going to go away. Troubles are lessons in disguise. Life is a school, and the lessons we learn move us to the next grade. If we don't learn the lesson we'll keep repeating the grade. Let me give you a personal example.

Relationships have always been important to me. I have a tendency to want to make relationships work out. I put forth so much effort in my marriage to make the relationship work until I heard my then estranged husband utter these words: "Well, I'm not the first to be divorced, and I won't be the last." It was then I realized he had stopped trying. The pattern continued with the boyfriends who came into my life. I was always the one taking responsibility. The most hurtful situation was with my oldest son. I tried so hard so many times to make these relationships work but they all failed miserably. What was the lesson in all of these relationships that I failed to learn?

I kept searching and asking God and others "Why?" Now I have peace. Now I understand the lesson, but it has taken years and several buckets of tears. Eventually the answer comes.

The lesson was this. It takes two to make a relationship work. I needed to respect myself enough to say "Enough is enough". If the other person wasn't respecting me, I needed to set my boundaries and keep them at arm's length: husband, boyfriend, or son. The characters changed but the scenario remained the same. The pain kept getting worse. It was my youngest son who pointed this out to me and then I was able to tie all the pieces together. Now that I think about it, perhaps this all goes back to the fact that I never had a relationship with my alcoholic father. I tried many approaches then as well - excelling in school, music, and many other areas. None of these worked because my father was an alcoholic, and he was incapable of having a relationship with anyone except the bottle.

We don't always understand why God allows suffering at the time, because our minds are human in capacity and our awareness is often clouded. God's thoughts are higher than our thoughts, and His ways are higher than our ways (Is 55:8-9). This means God always has a purpose and a plan, even if it is not clear to us. God uses circumstances to mold us, to grow us up, and to teach us to take better care of ourselves. Yes, these lessons can be painful and difficult but in the same way a parent disciplines a child for his or her own good, so God disciplines his children (Heb 12:4-7).

We may not see what the outcome of our situations will be. This is what Faith is all about. Faith is the positive belief of things not yet seen. The Bible says that Faith is what pleases God (Heb 11:6). It shows we trust Him, even when we cannot see the path in front of us. Even when our eyes are filled with tears, and the days seem as dark as night, Faith is the power we each have to see us through. Faith is what carries us and keeps us. Suffering is difficult, no doubt, but when we can assign meaning to it, it loses some of its sting. Faith is the muscle we have to push through and to persevere.

What are you facing today? Have you lost a loved one? A relationship has failed? Financial woes? Health issues? Trust me, there are lessons in each of these circumstances. When we slow down enough to seek answers, they will come. I don't expect you to share your personal story but if you'd like, I encourage you to, because it is healing. Feel free to do so in the comments below.

If this post touched you and you'd like to join our community, enter your email in the box provided. You'll receive my bi-weekly emails plus a copy of my free e-guide entitled "7 Steps to Finding Your Spiritual Path". It's a generic guide, not necessarily for Christian paths as we are all on a journey and I believe it will be helpful to anyone who is seeking spiritual direction.

I would love to hear your comments on this post. The experts advise talking about the raw stuff of life and this was certainly raw. I hope this has given you a different and encouraging perspective on the trials you are going through.

May your load be lightened and keep looking up!

Ariel Paz