Healing Without Band Aids

Welcome to my column "Walking the Conscious Life Path" on The LOHASIAN. Just what does that title mean, you may ask. Together, in the months and weeks to come, we will discover the answer to that question by journeying to achieve lasting change from the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual levels. Instead of allowing life to happen to us, as though we have little control, we will become more mindful of who we are and learn how to get to where we want to be. Your responsibility is to open up your body, mind and spirit and mine is to help you in this endeavor. Are you ready? Let’s begin.

It seems to me that in this overly busy world we all look for the fastest way to do things. For instance, consider the three-minute meal or the 10-minute workout. We feel pressured to have the latest X, Y and Z and achieve this and that. With certain parts of our life, this approach of finding the hastiest version can work out fine. Not having to grow the tea leaves, dry them, and crush them to make a cup of tea comes in handy. I can appreciate a well-made tea bag.
After all there are only 24 hours in a day! How can we do all that seems to be required of us?

Most of us truly want to be happy, content and peaceful or maybe some combination of these in our lives. If this is so, it’s helpful to learn how to connect to our inside thoughts and feelings more deeply. This connection helps us know what will more deeply fulfill us. Knowing this connection in a way that enables us to achieve fulfillment is not usually the result of a quick fix or whim of the moment. Those quick study courses most often don’t give us the staying power we are looking for.

Since the birth of the wonderful world of media, we are often told what we want. This is not to say that some of what we hear is not helpful, but some of it amounts to nothing more than distractions that lead us nowhere. To know ourselves and live our best life takes time, attention and effort. It doesn’t happen in the time it takes to order pizza for delivery. I know we all want to try and find the easiest way. Sometimes not going to the center of the problem actually takes more time in the long run. Driving into the heart of the matter can keep us from just spinning our wheels on the surface.

Constantly, we see the 10 quick and easy steps to _____… you fill in the blank. Some of this abridged information is helpful and some of it can be like a band-aid on a splinter in your finger. You have to dig into the sore tissue around the splinter to get the obstruction out. This takes us to the root cause, so to speak, in order to heal. These quick fixes are often like fancy band-aids. This doesn’t mean we go back to having to gathering the wood for the fire to cook our food or spend 12 years in therapy talking about our failed 10th birthday party. It does mean that if we want authentic happiness and not just settle for a mediocre life, it’s important to look deeply at ourselves. This may mean you need support from a skilled healer, shaman or therapist. This may also include doing further exploration on your own with journaling, meditation or other spiritual work.

Think for a moment about how you might sometimes forget, or not want to, and remove the band-aid and look more deeply to actually facilitate healing that could last. How could you challenge yourself to question more deeply - and go, beneath the band-aid?