365 Tao: Healing

"Fire cools.
Water seeks its own level." 365 Tao #11

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"No matter how extreme a situation is, it will change. It cannot continue forever. Thus, a great forest fire is always destined to burn itself out, a turbulent sea will become calmer. Natural events balance themselves out by seeking their opposites, and this process of balance is at the heart of all healing.
This process takes time. If an event is not great, the balancing required is slight. If it is momentous, then it may take days, years, even lifetimes for things to return to an even keel. Actually, without these slight imbalances, there could be no movement in life. It is being off balance that keeps life changing. Total centering, total balance would only be stasis. All life is continual destruction and healing, over and over again.
That is why, even in the midst of an extreme situation, the wise are patient. Whether the situation is illness, calamity, or their own anger, they know that healing will follow upheaval."

Healing
Emotional healing requires time and self care. Few of us have been raised to appreciate that all three: the body, mind, and spirit must be nurtured and cared for. My sister called me after an appointment with a medical doctor last week. She recounted what the doctor told her. He said, "People take better care of their automobiles than they do their bodies." This is so true. Now take that a step further. People will take better care of their bodies than they will their minds and their emotional health. Many people are raised to tough it out, to not perform self care, as doing so is a sign of weakness. The reality is that self care is vital, and breaking outside of the conditioning and the societal pressure to "tough it out" itself takes a great deal of strength. It is much easier just to go along with the herd.
I am contemplating what I want to work on this year. In doing so, I need to listen - sometimes the path is obscured and barely marked, sometimes the voice you should be following is faint and distant. We all need to still and quiet ourselves and clear our minds so we can receive these all important guideposts. -p.a.


365 Tao by Deng Ming-Dao