Illness and discomfort as an invitation to change

As some of you know, I used to offer one on one consultations. During those consultations, I helped people tackle problems. These could include chronic illnesses or other situations that they wanted to get rid of. Anyone who came to my practice had often been going around in circles for some time. They’d reached a point where they wanted to get out of that circle, but they didn’t know how. They always had one thing in common. They were willing to change if that was what it took to get out of their situation. That’s what I always call the silver lining: illness and discomfort are an invitation to change.

Why you can’t solve a long-running problem without change

Einstein already said it, but in other words: you can’t change a situation by continuing to do the same thing. The same applies, it’s your body, mind, or life that’s offering challenges. Whether it’s illness or some other discomfort, the fact that you’re not feeling well tells you that something didn’t go as it should have in the past. And, because equal circumstances lead to equal results, you will have to change the circumstances.

That is why regular medical treatments often do not lead to a solution for a chronic illness. These are oftentimes only aimed at solving the results of a problem. They fight the symptoms that arise from an unhealthy situation. This situation could be caused by anything. One thing is certain: as long as you do not change the causes of the situation, it will continue. As long as it continues, the symptoms will continue. You will need to continue treatment as long as symptoms persist.

Stagnation bring decline

In fact, typically the situation worsens if the causes persist. With the worsening situation, the symptoms worsen, which means that treatment will have to be intensified. And suddenly you’ve gone from turning around in a circle to a downward spiral. You can extend this process to any problematic situation in your life. Without change there is no solution and regularly even decline.

Now, finding the causes of any rotten situation is rarely easy. If that were the case, the problem would have been solved long ago. It usually involves an accumulation of sub-factors, so that you cannot see the wood for the trees. Or it concerns a chain of things, which means you have to go back a long time before you arrive at the starting point. I’ve seen it happening in my practice that I had to travel back generations to get to the source. In case of concerns in very young children, it’s even safe to assume the cause lies before birth.

Getting there step by step

That sounds intense, don’t you think? Almost discouraging if it wasn’t for the good news. The good news is that you don’t have to tackle everything at once. Or be able to look at the issue as a whole to make improvements. You can trace back the path step by step until you think it’s good enough. And every step will bring relief.

Of course, this process does take time and effort. That’s why it only works if you yourself want change. If you are willing to do the work. Illness and discomfort are an invitation to change, a doorway to another life, and you alone hold the key. The information you find on this site might help you while using that key and improving your situation step by step.