Healthy Living DIY

Considering the 4 main types of pain...

1. Physical
2. Mental
3. Emotional
4. Spiritual

...it's safe to say that each one of us has some opportunity to participate in this adventure. Some of us are more successful at healing the hurt than others.

Those who choose not to participate, it seems to me, tend to either believe that there is no solution to their problem (and hard science tells us that people who believe their problem is unresolvable will not attempt to do anything about it - see June 12, 2006 post on hopelessness)

OR

They are afraid that the solution would be even more painful, at one of the four levels, than the problem is. I could go on and on with more variations, but I'll spare you. :-).

What they do instead is - they choose to co-exist with the pain as long as they can. Usually, there is some way of numbing or distraction involved (so they don't have to think about the fact that their lives are flying by). Let's explore a few:

1. Alcohol or drugs, prescribed or not. This includes anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medicine as well as physical pain-killers.
2. Addiction to activity - any kind. People in pain do not want to sit with their pain and accept or resolve it. They want to go-go-go to avoid having to look at themselves in the mirror. This will eventually lead to burn-out, because we aren't designed to go-go-go.
3. Watching lots of sports on TV or in person.
4. Watching lots of movies in the theater or at home.
5. Excessive reading - fiction, non-fiction, the paper, the cereal box, all the email, the little notes that come with the electric bill, the Publisher's Clearing House flyer, etc.
6. Music concerts, or endless listening at home.
7. Excessive working out, running, etc. beyond what's needed for fitness or a pleasant hobby.
8. Becoming obsessed with the care of others so much that it supercedes care of self.
9. Work-aholism that exceeds one's passion for his or her job.
10. Continuous procrastination - any activities that you do not deliberately choose and that serve to take you away from the activities you'd planned to do instead.
11. Criticism of others, especially those who make an attempt to heal their own lives and support others in doing the same.
12. Controlling and manipulating other people.
13. Running from one practitioner to the next, expecting someone else to do the healing for you.
14. Lots and lots of sleep.

Notice that you may do some of the things on this list. I know I do. Notice that many of these activities are considered healthy in moderation. The problem comes when they take on such a level of importance that the person no longer has the opportunity to sit quietly and experience their life.

OR, they may simply suffer silently and wait to die.

Remember, in any troubling or stressful situation, you always have 3 choices:

1. Resolve the situation
2. Remove yourself from the situation
3. Pay the price with your health

The people we speak of who make little or no effort to heal their lives generally exist in pain, paying the price with their health, until they die. They experience little genuine enjoyment or pleasure (although they may try to convince themselves that mind-numbing distraction is fun). It's really kind of sad, as I said, when there are so many health-promoting opportunities around.