Written By Don Shetterly
It is so easy to go through difficult moments and cry out, begging for answers. I know, I've done it many times. I believe it is part of human nature and the cycle of suffering. We forget, though, in these times that we have answers within our mind, body, and spirit.
While the answers may be there and we may acknowledge to some level that they are, we often don't believe it. We feel isolated and trapped. We feel discouragement and despair. It often appears that there is no hope and no way forward.
At times we reach those moments of so much despair and agony, that nothing can convince us there is more beyond our current moment. It almost becomes like we have reached our point of no return and so we spiral down further into the dark hole of our existence.
That flicker of hope...
Having answers within us is like saying you can be warm sitting outside in a blizzard. It just doesn't compute at that moment. Deep down, there may be that flicker of hope, but it grows harder to access with each waking minute.
I still remember staring up at the ceiling of my hospital room when I was 26 years old and dealing with Conversion Disorder. Doctors told me my brain was shutting down as evidenced by not being able to walk, barely being able to move and struggling to verbally communicate. At that point, I could barely remember my name or even feel a needle being pricked into the bottom of my foot.
I felt hopeless in those moments. I felt like there was no way out. In fact, at that moment, I was not sure if I wanted a way out. Believing that I held the answers within was almost like watching a comedy routine. Yet, I asked myself the question, "Is this all I can expect for my life?"
As significant moments came through one by one, I started to realize that if I was going to make it, I had to find the answers within myself. No, there was no road map to discovery. There was no one to ask. There was no book to read, and the internet was not in existence like it is now.
I had to find my answers...
I had to go full throttle into the darkness of the unknown, believing that if I could not give up, I would find the answers to the situation I was in. It was not easy. Many told me their versions of beliefs and opinions that I should try, but more often than not, those things were of little help.
I had to find out what was my own truth. I had to see what the answers were that I held within my mind, body, and spirit. No one could tell me those things for no one was walking in my shoes.
More importantly, though, I did not give up. I did not let deterrents like learning to walk again or bringing my memory back stop me. I did not let obstacles like anxiety, depression, and normal life functions stop me. I did not give up.
In a new book I am working on, I have detailed more of the things I used to help me find the answers within and heal my body. It is not a recipe that everyone should follow step-by-step. It is more of the concepts that I learned along the way in my own healing. These are the life-changing moments, not my beliefs or opinions as to what heals.
All too often, we face life's challenges, and we neglect the wealth of knowledge and insight we hold within our mind, body, and spirit. It is in this recognition that we will make it through from the lowest moments to the points where we have hope and possibility. When we discover that all of our experiences have led us to this moment, it is then that we find those answers within ourselves.
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