The Pain Is the Healing

Here is an affirmation I have given to a new client who is being treated with chemotherapy for cancer:  The pain IS the healing.

I was thinking very deeply about this client, who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma late last year, when I came up with the affirmation.  He is being successfully treated with the chemo, but the it has put him in excruciating pain.  He says it feels as if his bone marrow is boiling.

What we don't always realize is that life is often painful; but the pain we endure is often our greatest blessing; it's what usually brings our greatest growth.  That is the gist of this post.  And the gist of the affirmation.

Affirmations are statements that we say over and over to ourselves, to help establish in our minds the truth behind the statement.  What we say to ourselves repeatedly, we believe.  What we believe, we create.  In other words, we create our reality, whether you want to believe it or not (hidden wisdom, hidden wisdom, reread, ponder).

However, affirmations are powerless if we don't really believe what we are saying in the first place.  For my client, it is not too hard to get him to believe.  First off, he's super-sharp: He already sees the blessing in his illness, and he sees how his life (and mind-set) has led up to where he is now, for all of which he is grateful.  Second, he's a fighter; he feels like ess ayech aye tee (i.e. not well), yet he comes for his visits anyway.  He is doing everything he can to get well, including chiropractic, acupuncture, nutritional therapy, and very soon...rehab.  Third, he knows he is getting better; this man knows the principles of the universe, and he gets that he's getting a second chance; he understands the process.

So "the pain IS the healing" rings true for him.  But I have given him the affirmation to get him through the rough times.  When his bone marrow starts feeling like it's boiling from the chemo, the affirmation makes it firm in his mind that it is an integral part of the healing process; and he'll help his body along through his certainty.

And you can use this affirmation too.  Whether you are going through a tough breakup, financial or legal troubles, or any other painful experience, just remember...the pain IS the healing.

Affirmative

I've heard it said recently that saying affirmations is pure BS--wishful thinking; La La Land. I disagree wholeheartedly.

Affirmations are statements said out loud by a person which the person assumes to be true in the present moment. These statements are repeated by the person as many times as the person wants, with the idea that repeated statements become truth--that is, realized by the person--when it becomes a reality in the mind first. It is based on the concept that language is powerful, and when language and mental impressions coincide, they lead to creation--creation of reality.

New Age mumbo jumbo? Many people think so. But many do not. I'm one of those people who do not. I've been saying affirmations for years, and I enjoy looking back at some of my past affirmations and seeing in what capacity they are being realized in my life now. The secret to making affirmations work is believing in their reality now, even if you're not seeing it in your life on the material plane at this very moment. As long as you see it on the mental plane, it exists. Hard concept to grasp, especially for the materialist, but with a little investigation, everyone can see the truth in the concept by acknowledging that most everything realized on the material plane starts as a thought first.

I figured that if I said it enough, I would convince the world that I really was the greatest.--Muhammad Ali

I was pondering the concept of affirmations recently when I came across this video of USC football coach Pete Carrol. This football and life genius uses many mental concepts--ones that would be considered New Age--successfully with his players and in the community. Please watch this inspirational video and pay close attention to what Carrol calls "Win Forever." See how he's using the concept of language and affirmation in some of Los Angeles' most violent gang-infested neighborhoods. It's simply miraculous. Listen to the language the gang members use, listen to their affirmations about life and death. Then listen to what Pete Carrol has to say (especially his final words on the piece).

Don't believe in affirmations? Watch this video and then decide.


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