Daodejing, Verse 71

Daodejing - Other Voices

The Tao of Healthy Living and Weight Loss
A few weeks ago I was flipping through the million channels on my TV trying to find just one thing worth watching (which isn't an easy task). Luckily I found Dr. Wayne Dyer on PBS.

I read my first book by Dr. Wayne Dyer (Real Magic) about twelve years ago, and I've been hooked ever since. So when I watched his seminar on PBS that was based on his latest book, of course I had to run out the next day and buy it. This one is called Change Your Thoughts - Change Your Life, and it's his interpretation of the 81 verses of the Tao...

...Verse 71 - Living Without Sickness - Only when we are sick of our sickness shall we cease to be sick.

As someone who suffers with chronic illness, the notion of healing ourselves implies that we make a choice to be sick or to be well. And I just don't believe that. But this verse isn't about blame. It's about being aware. Basically, our symptoms are our body's way of talking to us, and we need to take the time to listen.

Could fatigue be a message to slow down and get more rest? Could high blood pressure be a message to make healthier food choices and lose some weight? Could a headache be a message that we are allowing stress and worry to steal moments of our life that we can never get back?

Possibly.

Each symptom may mean something different to each person. The goal is simply awareness.

I think with chronic illness, it's also about how we "perceive" it. We may need to accept our illness, while still listening to our symptoms and striving to be the healthiest version of ourselves that we can be. Remember that we are not our body, so we can stop seeing ourselves as our illness.

Practice this idea by taking some time to listen to what your symptoms may be trying to tell you.
~ from BlogHer, author Catherine Morgan, original post date: 1/14/09 ~

This post is part of a series. For an introduction, go here.