Healing Is A Process

WED., JULY 21, 1993, 6:16 AM
FARM, STUDY

You are becoming too anxious and too impatient about the healing of your body, particularly this shoulder. I want to emphasize this morning that healing is a holistic process, and you are not participating in it in a full, appreciative fashion. I hope this Teaching will help.

I have told you about the complementary nature of anabolic and catabolic processes… the building up and the tearing down. When these are in perfect balance you don’t notice the processes, for the buildup matches the disability, and functioning remains healthy. What you are experiencing, again, is the imbalance of these forces, which leaves you with a shoulder that aches in the midst of the night. The healing process is “on,” but it is slowed by two factors. One is your age, which emphasizes that you don’t heal as quickly as when you were younger. The other is that you are not participating fully in the healing direction.

Aging is, generally, an experience in which the balance changes… before one healing is complete some other breakdown happens. When you are overbalanced toward pain and disability, your spirit, emotions, and your social self may become “discouraged” and less active, which further slows the healing process and actually encourages more catabolism. In general, your body responds to your spirit, and when spirit is strong, healing occurs quickly, often even without notice. The “problem” is that you can let your spirit respond to your body, and healing is slowed, even stopped. At your age you have more control of your spirit than of your body, so this has to leave you with the conclusion that you are responsible, in part at least, for your pain and disability.

Now the fact that you are paying as little attention to this as you are is in the direction of healing. Think and act positively, and your body tends to respond in kind. Your strategy for going downstairs to your chair in order to get your maximum sleep is part of not letting the aches overcome you. Yet you are not doing what I recommended, several weeks ago, as fully as you could.

Positively, you did handle the situation with the dragging muffler rather well. You adapted, you were positive, even playful, in your response, and you succeeded in your homeward journey with only a few more “adjustments.” Since you don’t like situations of this sort and aren’t good at “fixing” in such conditions it was a test of your spirit, and you came through in fine fashion, with scabs on your arm to remind you of the adventure.

Be more aware of situations with people, especially those with some disability that is obvious, in which you can experience appreciation of these situation, and of your own, in contrast. Be friendly, helpful, gregarious. Show forth My spirit of love, concern, and exhilaration for healthy living. Show, and tell when you should, that spirit is the essence of health and of healing. When you, or anyone, is in good balance the body responds to the spirit, and the spirit wants healing.