I Am Powerful Beyond Belief
If you were to say that statement out loud, would you believe it? Do you believe that you have everything you need inside of you to live a full, happy, and healthy life?
I remember back to the time when I was diagnosed with an autoimmune dis-ease. I had been looking for answers everywhere. I tried changing my diet. I tried working with a naturopath. I was in the healthcare system using heavy duty drugs to manage my conditions, and the side effects were taking their toll on my body. A friend of mine told me I should go see a reiki master (I found out later that she was actually an energy healer, my friend said that if he had used that term I probably never would have gone to see her). She told me that all the answers I needed were inside me.
What! Are you serious? What are you talking about? Why don’t I have access to these answers? You’re crazy. I don’t know what to do, that’s why I’m looking for help. That’s why I’m here. If I had all the answers, do you think I’d be in this condition? As I continued my diatribe, I’m pretty sure I saw the corner of her mouth turn into the slightest of grins.
While that only happened two summers ago, it seems like an eternity to me. I had an amazing session with that energy healer. Aside from my autoimmune dis-ease diagnosis, I had been suffering from chronic tailbone pain for some time and was unable to do sit-ups at the gym. In that session, where the healer never touched me, and in fact stood about ten feet away from me during the entire session, my tailbone pain disappeared. And it has never come back.
Wake Up Call
What happened? Truth is, I’m still not sure I fully understand it. But that event started me on my journey of examining my belief systems about the human body, and in particular, my body. It also started me on my journey of true healing, healing from the root cause of my condition, and not just masking the symptoms. And it’s been a hell of a ride. I believe that if I knew then what I know now, I never would have had the symptoms of the dis-ease in the first place. But if I had never had the dis-ease diagnosis, I never would have started the journey of understanding the mind – body – spirit connection, and I wouldn’t have the belief systems and understanding that I have now. For that, I am truly grateful for the onset of the dis-ease, my own personal wake-up call. Hold on, did I read that right? Did I just say that I’m grateful for the onset of dis-ease? Yup, I did. And I meant it.
I’m Not Alone
I’ve learned a lot. Where I used to be the guy that believed that when we got sick, we should run to the doctor for something to deal with the illness, I have now learned and witnessed an amazing amount about the body’s ability to heal itself. I may still go to the doctor, but I go with a focus on the big picture, not just the symptoms. I’ve started writing a weekly blog to share my stories and lessons that I’ve learned. I started pushing the envelope a bit recently and began thinking about doing a TEDx Talk or creating a documentary. Dr. Lissa Rankin is a colleague, her original TEDx Talk really inspired me. Then I saw the documentary “The Cure Is …”. It was great, I shared it on my FaceBook page and told the authors that if I were to produce a documentary, it would look a lot like this. I contributed to the making of the movie “I’m Fine, Thanks”. Today I watched the documentary “Project 101010 – Pill or Perception”. Another great documentary, another similar and very clear message about the body’s ability to heal itself.
Hhmmmm. Today I allow myself to be frustrated. I’m not going to dwell on that thought, but I am going to allow it. Then I’m going to go back to figuring out what I can do about it. I’m frustrated because there is so much information available to people for them to become educated, to learn the things that I have learned, and yet the news doesn’t seem to be getting out there. With the internet and the explosion of social media, these stories and resources are getting shared. I have become connected to many more folks that are spreading the message. But if there’s so much information available, then why doesn’t everybody know about it? Why don’t we teach it in schools?
Sadly, I think the answer is quite simple. I think that this message is being drowned out by louder messages. Our current healthcare system is more of an illness management system than it is a wellness management system. We treat the symptoms, we ignore the root cause. That’s what we have learned to expect, and we’ve accepted the diagnosis, and that’s where we stop.
A Well-ness System?
Yup, I’m frustrated. And I’m tired. I’m tired of the “old” belief system. I’m tired of a system that focuses on illness, I want a system that focuses on wellness. I’m tired of hearing about very good friends, family members, colleagues and others being given their illness diagnosis along with the prognosis of “there’s not much hope for a cure, but here’s something that will help you with the condition”. I DON’T AGREE! I don’t agree that there’s no hope. There are way too many stories that convince me otherwise. Why don’t we make people aware of the idea that the dis-ease didn’t actually happen overnight, and that there are resources available to them to help through the healing journey that they are about to undertake?
So, I’ve shared my frustration. Breathe, breathe, breathe … Okay, I’ve let it go. Now back to figuring out what each of us can do about it.
To me the answer is actually quite obvious. In a capitalist society, companies produce products or services, they create marketing campaigns to get their message to customers, and customers have choice in what they purchase. Products come in and out of acceptance all the time. Remember when we had records to play our music? Then we had 8-track tapes, then cassettes, then CD’s, then MP3’s. There’s always something new on the horizon to compete for the customer’s attention. In the health care system, this is a very big business.
Here’s a thought. What if there’s something old on the horizon to replace today’s system? What if we “remembered” the body’s innate ability to heal itself and learned to “tap in” to that ability? What if the current approach of using pharmaceutical drugs was more of a last resort approach? Now I get it. The answers truly are inside of us. And we actually know many approaches that help us tap into the answers.
How Do We Make the Change?
WE HAVE THE BEST PRODUCT. Our bodies are designed to heal themselves. We simply need to help people remember that. Our job isn’t to convince people to stay away from medications, our job is simply to help raise awareness to the bigger picture. It isn’t just about treating symptoms, it’s about figuring out what the root causes of illness are and then treating the root cause. As people become more educated about how to figure this out, they start to approach things a bit differently. As they learn the connection between mind, body and spirit and start to “remember” the body’s innate ability to heal itself, there will be far more healing and far less reliance on masking symptoms.
Our job is to help educate those that are not already “in the know”. I believe that this is a grass roots initiative, and I also believe that it is well underway. As more and more people and communities bring their messages forward in whatever form – books, TEDx Talks, documentaries, feature films, etc. – the message gets louder and louder. And when it comes to treating illness and dis-ease, the patient starts to exercise different choices. As more and more patients start to search for true healing solutions, there has to be a shift away from an illness management system, moving toward a wellness management system.
And we ALL win.
Are you powerful beyond belief? Do you believe that you have everything you need inside of you to live a full, happy, and healthy life? Will you help others find their power?
What do you think? I’d love to hear your comments, please share in the Comments section below.
If you’re interested in finding out more about the resources mentioned above, I include a sampling of them on my web site. And if you’d like to be an active member of a community that continues to spread the message, please respond by email or in the Comments section below.
Namaste, Ken
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Written by Ken
Ken Jaques describes himself as a Health Care Evolutionary, Community Builder, and Speaker. True healing begins when we treat root causes instead of just masking symptoms. Diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in 2008, Ken has experienced many facets of the health care system. As “the only patient who ever lost their hair on this low of a dosage of chemotherapy” – as spoken by his rheumatologist – Ken has been on an amazing journal of self-discovery, a journey of true healing. In his blog, Ken shares stories of how his beliefs have changed over the past few years, and how they are still changing. Is it possible that our bodies can heal themselves? Do we really have to live without hope after we receive a chronic illness diagnosis? These are the types of questions that Ken encourages people to ask themselves as they embark on their own physical or emotional healing journey.
Ken is creating a platform to connect People, Patients, Practitioners, Partners and Promoters, enabling a collaborative effort to help shift the focus on health from I-llness to We-llness. Check out the pilot at www.myHealthyCommunity.ca.
“When ‘I’ is replaced with ‘we’, even I-llness becomes WE-llness” ~ Malcolm X
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