Please do not ever wear your illness.What does that even mean?
I've noticed lately how we introduce ourselves has changed over the years. It used to be career or family or relationships that people identified with.Now people seem to introduce themselves with their illnesses or limitations. Whether its physical, mental, or emotional. At first I thought this was just happening to me. Once people realized I was a holistic practitioner, they would then proceed to share their medical history. But then it happened again the other day, with a person had never met me before, and did not know what I did for a living and it got me thinking. What is going on out there in the world that we feel the need to disclose personal health information with people we just meet? Is it that we are just more aware of our bodies? Or has social media created a world in which people interacting with one another feel the need to share Everything.While I celebrate our new found awareness that we are more aware of what's going on in our body, I do question if it's healthy to identify the Who in the 'Who We Are' with those things so thoroughly.Identifying with our illness solidifies it. It becomes part of the personality, and as a result becomes locked into the mind. In truth the mind is fluid. Things in the body are in constant change and flux. Some parts of the body actually change moment to moment. If you are going to grab onto a belief and identify yourself with it, please make it a positive one, a hopeful one. And don't use illness as an excuse for why you do not participate in life.(More on that Here)I would love for people to introduce themselves and share their dreams and goals. If they have to talk about their illnesses, to speak of them in fleeting transitory terms like 'You may have noticed I'm currently facing the challenge of (such and such) though it may be clearly visible to you, I want you to know I'm not letting this current situation define my life. I'm working with it to heal and balance it the best I can. And though you may see this about me first I want you to know that I am (this this and this) as a person. That's Who I Am.'I find people born with physical disabilities or have to deal with ones on a daily basis that are hard to miss are the first ones to Not define themselves by it. They do not want to. My father in law was in a wheelchair most of his life and he rarely if ever spoke of it. He was obviously in the chair. But he spoke of other things. He never let it stop him. He was still a scout leader. He invented a contraption to help him hang his basement drop ceiling. He swam, scuba dived, and could fix anything. Sure he almost injured himself a million different other ways doing some of these things but he LIVED life. He Never let his disability undermine his ability.I find people today use their (insert everything from ADHD to gluten allergy to back pain) to define them and prevent them from not only acknowledging their abilitie,s but in living their lives. When a group of unwell people are talking it can become almost a contest. No longer do people talk of jobs, cars, houses, or neighborhoods to brag of social status.(thank goodness) But they will list off all manner of illnesses and problems and the winner is the person with the most things wrong with them. They win the sympathy of the group. I'm just waiting for the day when those letters that some people send in lieu of Christmas cards do not tell you about that families trips or children's accomplishments, etc. but instead will list personal ailments. Or when those cute cartoon stick people families on the back of cars morph to have symbols representing everyones 'conditions'.Why am I even blogging about this? Who cares you say? Why not let everyone introduce themselves with their illness and limitations forevermore?
Because WHAT WE SAY MATTERS.Our Thoughts over time actually Become Matter.Please please before you speak, consider that you are ordering from that vast soup of potential-the quantum field. To say something out loud means you have had to think it for a very long time and The Thought is What Creates Your Reality.Believe me, I know illness is out there. I know some of us will face horrendous challenges and heartache in our lives. And that's hard.But if it happens to you, please do not let that illness, imbalance, or terrible life event claim and take over your mind. Keep your mind a sanctuary of peace and allow those other things to morph and change and heal and balance. And if they cannot or will not and they are life long please do not let them define or limit you. Leave a space in your mind that is hopeful, that will create a space for healing. Find a way to Live your Life and your Dreams despite your circumstance. You owe yourself that much.May you all have joy, love and perfect radiant health!Always,Kerri