Have you ever heard someone say something like;
Their health crisis, ‘bad’ relationship or accident ‘was a gift?’
To some it may seem as though they were just being brave in the face of adversity..
But truly, when we are in pain, and put energy towards healing, we do a great service.
Even by the act of searching for the root cause of our dis – ease we open to the pathway of healing.
Ask, yourself “How does this___(big problem)__________serve me?”
Yes. Really. think about it.
Here’s a story to illustrate:
I had a wickedly painful right palm.
It was so freakin bad..blisters, redness, swelling, pain.
I had really no idea what it was….
I did internet searches, and to me, it looked similar to a fungal infection that I saw a picture of..I treated it with tea-tree first, then with OTC anti-fungal stuff..both worked a little.
I did self-reiki often,
I did Distance Reiki to others who had this affliction too.
I stated to the universe, the goddess, my higher self; “I am open to the message that my hand had for me”…
I bandaged my hand like a pro drummer with surgical tape over band-aids..It helped me not feel the pain of coming in contact with everything…. my oldest son noticed and asked about it, he said, “I didn’t even know you had that mommy, you were pretending you weren’t hurt?” “yes, i guess I was.”
I might have cried right then, but we had company.
I made more ice tea.
None of this really seemed to help the hand,
The poor skin on my palm just started to shred off.
It was horrific and gory. I started to have an emotional breakdown, really resenting having to do dishes, bathing the kids, wiping them up all the time..just cleaning up in general was hurting me.
(I had no idea these things were related.)
I cried, finally, from the vulnerability of it all, and the inability to write or feed myself without pain, and an even more noticeable inability to help anyone around me.
So Incapable. lame. broken. Useless.
Finally, I surrendered.
I sought out some help from a dermatologist who immediately recognized the condition as
“dyshidrotic eczema” which is caused from…
wait for it…..wait for it….
Dishwashing! It’s a too-much-moisture-related thing..Like dishpan hands, only wayyyyy out of control.
Ok, I think i understood it..i got it..
I started saying things like: “get it yourself kiddo”…. “you can do it honey, put your laundry into the dryer/load the dishwasher etc”…. “would you bring in some wood for me sweetheart?”. I’m asking for help more often.
The kids Are more capable than I realized…
I was doing too much.
This is what my hand was trying to tell me all along.
The poetic..the noetic. The holy intelligence of the body
I needed a hand.
Just for fun, around that time..”the universe” began to send me gorgeous ‘accolades’ from emails, ‘likes’ with a thumb-up emoji, praise hands emoji, and in-person actual clapping from my clients.
Telling me thank you…
that i wasn’t so lame after all.
Give that girl a hand! She’s allright!
SO how does that translate into a “great service”? When we heal a crisis, we help all those around us..in my case:
- teaching my children to be more independent
- showing my vulnerability to my family made them want to help more
- doing less housework, so i can do more writing, creating content & coaching, to really serve others and my higher purpose
- making more time for meditation, self-contemplation and self reiki
- the physical act of my hand healing, made my hands..more healing! (which was a benefit to others who were receiving reiki from that ‘healing’ hand)
“Take time with a wounded hand, ’cause it likes to heal”
-Stone Temple Pilots
But here’s a big piece ..
We also heal the energetic field of the actual problem..
The field of the suffering belongs to not just you alone.
You bring awareness to that field of suffering;
Especially when we discover the root cause.
Especially when we share our hard-earned lessons with others
in the form of storytelling or your art (your work).
Helping others who suffer similarly to find their way back to wholeness too.