Healing
The journey is more important than the destination.
If you are reading this blog, you probably have been on an ongoing journey to healing your body. Whether it's the physical or emotional aspect, you are trying to get to a place where peace, strength, and potential meet harmoniously. A moment in time where you don't only feel confident, but you put into action your goal to live a healthy & fulfilling life. Sounds too good to be true?
At the same time, if you are reading these words, you know by now that healing is much more complicated than not feeling sick or having the best daily routine to support your well-being. Healing at times can mean crying and feeling relief at letting go. Healing, at times, is a quick self-judgment visit that becomes an opportunity to practice self-love. Healing is sometimes feeling the pain without a logical reason but not surrendering your happiness to it. While this now sounds too confusing, it's worth your time & energy investment.
The most meaningful thing about healing is that it's your best ally to live a fulfilling, rewarding imperfect life, even when it's a difficult act to pursue. So wherever you are on that healing journey, just starting or years into it, keep going and see it through. As cliche as it sounds, it's about the journey, not just the destination. Don't just wait until the wound seals to feel content. Bring awareness and celebration to all the remarkable things happening when the wound is healing. Whether you are healing from a tough loss (in any form) or a particular illness is not just about not feeling broken. It's about bringing to light your strengths, celebrating skills earned, and the experiences that make you treasure and bring value to living.
This post is about encouraging to pursue the journey of healing. In this blog, you will find a few shifts to endure and bring value to each aspect of the process of healing. Why? Because you deserve to heal!
How does one start healing?
The healing journey starts with an honest & vulnerable why. The moment you grasp there is a reason for you to improve yourself, that's your starting line. It should be a reason personal enough that has a lot at stake. "I want to smile genuinely" "I want my life to meet unknown potential" "I want to be the best mom & leader for my tribe" "My body deserves to feel & be strong" "I'm not weak" "My illness doesn't define me". There are plenty of good ones out there. So before planning how you will heal, figure out why you want/need to heal instead.
After that step is complete, it's about embracing a journey supported by daily actions that vouch for your commitment. Don't twist these words. Healing is not about perfection or grand acts. It's about recognizing that your life can and should pivot and that simple fact roots all actions, thoughts, experiences, and boundaries moving forward. The best part? There is no single formula to do it. Everyone can come up with a way to heal or embrace healing. To find the best way for you to heal is to start.
Now, one other step to consider as you embrace your healing journey. Don't get fixated on a single road to healing. Once the process starts, many paths with the potential to help your cause will unfold. Be open and flexible to them. The roots of the broken version of yourself may require tapping into unexpected solutions. Pace yourself to manage the different aspects that are intertwined as you heal. Prioritize and avoid multitasking. Healing can't be with bandaid solutions.
Enduring the process.
If you have been at it for a while, healing seems never-ending. Even though you feel and can vouch for the progress, there is always that need to do more. Truth? There is probably room for more but stretching yourself too thin to achieve it is counterproductive.
It is allowed to make your journey bearable. Becoming your best version is tough, but it shouldn't be misery. There are two things to consider to avoid that stage; preparation and sustenance.
You have to prepare physically & mentally for the experience. So designing and creating a perfect plan? No! It's making sure your body and lifestyle will support you to deal with the changes, and hardships; and most importantly, the resources to make it happen. That sometimes looks like boundaries, like time to yourself, asking for help, or putting certain things of your life on pause to focus on the goal. Aim to create an ecosystem you can thrive on, not make it harder on yourself.
The other part is sustenance. Make sure you fuel the body and mind properly during the journey. That may look like rest stops, a particular nutritional plan, mindset training, or certain freedoms or liberties. It's just being mindful and aware that the body cannot run on fumes. It needs energy sources to endure the healing journey.
How to endure it, you wonder? Below are a few insights to consider:
Prepare for both best & worst case scenarios. Be realistic and consider that your schedule will be hectic. That off days happen. That circumstances are going to be tricky. Once you can still pursue your healing with less-than-ideal circumstances, imagine what could happen when everything aligns in your favor.
Accept setbacks as opportunities, not failures. It's part of the process, don't fight it. Let it be your ally.
Take breaks and build momentum. You are the author of your journey and create it in such a way you capitalize on every moment of it.
Learn to switch from objective to subjective evaluation. Sometimes using your personality will get you through others are about being practical.
Create and advocate for a healing journey built around your preferences, circumstances, and goals. Don't mimic others' processes. It's okay to be inspired by others' journeys but avoid becoming competitive or comparing yourself with their healing ways.
Focus on the journey, your journey!
Look at others' journeys for inspiration and motivation, not to compare yourself. There is no single and perfect way to heal. There is one way for everyone. Some similarities and tools are shared, but each story has its unique approach.
Below are a few perspectives to leverage from others' healing journeys without becoming jealous or counterproductive to your own.
Celebrate others' wins! That builds momentum and creates hope for all healing.
When learning about others' journeys, ask not how they did it, but what they felt doing it. Then see how you can implement actions that inspire those emotions on your journey.
Be aware that the angle from which you appreciate others' journeys is missing bits of the story. Don't only judge or evaluate the outcome without consideration of the info you don't have/see.
Stop evaluating or learning about others' healing journeys if it only brings to focus negative aspects of your experience ("I can't do that, I don't have that, I'm so behind, etc."). Yes, that is fair game!
Shifts to Heal your Body & Mind.
Try these shifts having your preferences and circumstances in mind. Modify as you see fit. If you would like an even more personalized approach reach out and let’s get on a free call to see what are your options.
From my journey to yours
A new and fair focus.
It takes a while to notice how your body is healing. One way to know is when symptoms disappear. The other way is to bring awareness to your behavioral changes. This is when a healthy habit becomes the instinctive response. When the healing action doesn't need a cue to activate but is the default mechanism to the trigger.
One of my favorite chapters of my healing journey was when I realized I was healing from anxiety. I noticed not because I had no triggers or the panic attacks were less and less as time passed, but because I bounced back from one without despair.
I was a prisoner of anxiety a while back. It ruled me, every thought and every decision. Almost paralyzing. I'm proud to say that 3 years into the healing journey, I still experience anxiety, but I have a better management mechanism. I can't say "I'm healed" yet, but I can feel more confident in my ability to own my life instead of letting anxiety control me.
It's not fair to ignore all my progress & healing because I still experience anxiety, right? Correct! So as I continue, my focus is not on arriving at that destination, but on embracing the growth and healing that IS happening on my way there. Try it and see how healing takes a new meaning, requires a different virtue, and is a rewarding experience on its own.
Until Next One!
Stay happy, stay healthy, Stay BALANCED,
