Vision is something that is valued by everyone, but it is taken for granted as though that is reality. You don’t know how important vision is to you, until it is damaged.
Everything we value is represented in our minds as an image or a thought. When I couldn’t see the objects of my thoughts, I felt those symbols lost value and I was forced to an inner depth beyond thinking.
Beyond the anxious thoughts was a silence that comforted me and was home to the Wisdom of my Body. That inner wisdom is an amazing tool to deal with disabilities and a life that was frustrating.
That trauma put me in a state of mourning and after years of dealing with a new reality which I had no power to change; I was open to discover a new reality.
Twenty five years ago I got multiple sclerosis and became legally blind with several other handicaps. My other handicaps seemed to worry me more, so blindness didn’t cause me to panic. I seemed to fall about twice a day, I had difficulty walking and my bladder was the cause of my greatest hassle.
When blindness didn’t cause me depression, it became a great teacher. When my thinking mind lost importance, I was able to enter the unknown and explore the inner reality beyond my thoughts. The unknown is one of man’s greatest fears, for thinking has become a security we have been conditioned to identify with.
When a person has no thoughts to hold on to—stress creates disequilibrium the ego tries to avoid. In my case the discomfort of not seeing was worse than entering the unknown, so going beyond my thinking mind was a welcomed journey.
We naturally trust what is important to us; so when we focus on our thinking mind we trust the thoughts in our mind. Those thoughts are but symbols we place importance and meaning to, but we tend to trust them more than our life and deepest inner wisdom.
When I became legally blind, without seeing the objects of those thoughts they became less important to me. I didn’t trust them and I placed value in the silence beyond my thoughts. That is where I connected to the Wisdom of my Body and that is what I learned to trust.
My illness caused me to create anxious thinking, which was easy not to trust and my blindness made those thoughts less important and I learned to trust the Wisdom of my Body in the silence beyond those thoughts.
In silence I found an inner comfort that connected me to a spiritual reality.
As I grew to trust that wisdom, I developed a solid self trust. When you can’t see the world around you; it is natural to look within. That is where I found resources that made me a valuable partner in my healing process.
Even with intense disabilities there is a quality in life. Have the courage, or accept being forced to that depth as a gift and your greatest challenges will become incredible teachers in your life.
Like I said in my other articles; there is a healthy way to be sick. What do you trust and is that a symbol in your mind or is it the Wisdom of your Body?
Marc Lerner is the author of The Life Skills Approach. He lectures frequently to patients in a health crisis to help them harness inner resources to actively participate in healing. For more information, visit www.lifeskillsinc.com
Copyright © 2007 Marc A. Lerner
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