Who
Gets Well:
Determination to Heal
by Barbara D. Allan
Author of Conquering Arthritis
This newsletter is the sixth in a series on the whys
and hows of emotional, mental, and spiritual healing.
You have heard this from me before, but the ideas in
the next paragraph are so critical to healing from arthritis
that I am repeating them.
Over the years, I have spoken with many people who
either have, or once had, arthritis. The most striking
thing about those who are able to completely heal themselves
is that they have integrated emotional, mental, and
spiritual healing with their attention to their physical
bodies.
This newsletter explores the importance of the determination
to heal, no matter what it takes. When you determine
in a healthy way you determine from the part of you
that knows that healing is your birthright, that it
is within your power and that it is worth the effort,
no matter what it takes.
Determination to Heal
For many years, in order to heal from my arthritis,
I cooked almost all of my own food from scratch. This
was because I reacted to wheat, corn, rice, beef and
many food additives. When I ate any of those things,
even in minute quantities, my arthritis flared up. When
I didn't eat them, I was painfree. Most restaurant and
prepackaged food has at least one of those ingredients.
(Corn in particular seems to turn up everywhere.) So,
whenever I went out, I took my own food with me.
My friends commented on how they could never do what
I was doing. They said they could never stay on that
kind of diet. But eating that way was much easier for
me than being exhausted, in pain and unable to walk.
It was much easier for me to keep to the diet and thus
able to walk freely, think clearly and be able to sleep
at night. (As many of you know, pain makes thinking
and sleeping difficult.)
And all that was true, as far as it goes.
But there was also something even more important at
play: I had determined to do whatever it took to get
well.
This determination gave me the perseverance and positive
attitude to do the research and experimentation that
allowed me to figure out exactly what I needed to do
to heal.
This determination got me from the hard place of being
in pain and not knowing what to do, to the place where
I finally knew everything I needed for my own healing.
It also helped me take all the necessary steps. (The
arthritis is now completely gone and I
can eat whatever I want.)
Why Severe Arthritis Is Often
Easiest to Heal
Making any change, including getting well, requires
motivation. That is just human nature. Why put in the
effort to change unless there is a compelling payoff?
Healing from arthritis is not trivial. It can take
a great deal of effort.
Many people with only mild arthritis are not willing
to make the changes necessary to heal. For them, making
small lifestyle changes is often more work than living
with mild arthritis.
People with severe arthritis, however, are often willing
to do whatever it takes to heal. Once they know what
they need to do, they are willing to do it 100% of the
way, 100% of the time.
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