Finding a way forward in the midst of pain, sadness and illness - or just making life healthier and more fun
Journeys are usually fun - or on the way to fun - or on the way back from fun. Sometimes journeys are just a journey - getting from there to here (like work). But sometimes the journey is more arduous - a trip into the unknown with unpleasant stops and sidetracks along the way.
Life is a journey. You have come to where you are now with all sorts of adventures on the way. It’s your story. So many of our favourite stories tell of journeys - even Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit and Winnie the Pooh had a journey with stories to tell.
Chances are you are on this website for a different reason. You aren’t planning a trip or a holiday. You aren’t just reading this for fun and diversion.
You are on a health journey.
Perhaps you are basically healthy - but you want to be sure you stay that way. Or you know that you would like to be just a little more energetic - or maybe you want to be able to be sure you can play with your grandchildren when the time comes.
Or maybe you have a story that is dotted with pain - in every sense of the word. You are unwell or are hurting. You are looking for answers. You are hoping for and have in mind that there would be an easy and quick fix - looking for a procedure or a medication or some scientific intervention - something that will make a difference - that will bring complete resolution (or at least major respite).
Chances are though that you are here because your journey is one where so far this is not the case. It may be that you have spent time with - you name the health care professional - and there is no satisfactory answer. You know of friends and have read about people who saw such a professional and they had an intervention or procedure and lo and behold, when the treatment was over and the rehabilitation was complete they were back to normal.
But you are not one of those. Your pain, illness, sadness is still real and with you every moment - or so it seems anyway. So many things haven’t brought relief and don’t seem to work for you.
The really well-worn and clearly defined and well signposted roads to hospitals, clinics and consulting rooms seem still to be the obvious routes to explore. At least you won’t get lost. Between signposts and the GPS surely you will find your way. But you still haven’t got to the place you are looking for - partly because you are no longer sure what you are looking for.
Where to now?
You can just discern a really ill-defined and rough path that seems too vague to be worth exploring. It is overgrown and hardly visible.
Let’s explore this together. This kind of path will need us to walk together - no driving here. We will need to clear aside the bush as we go. To walk down some dead ends - to go back and find the path again and to forge ahead.
What are we looking for?
Hope.
Tools be be a little more “whole”. Some ideas about things “I can do for myself”.
Agency - being able to do work that makes me a better person. Some ideas about how to enjoy the journey even if it is through uncharted and troublesome territory.
Over time let’s explore many paths. Together we can map out a journey that brings some hope. Some pleasant cafes and some pretty picnic spots and waterfalls. And my favourite - view sites. Where we pull to the side and just simply enjoy the view.
Over time we might touch on things like:
What we eat
How we exercise
How we sleep
Big questions - whatever those might be????
How we think
Spirituality
The beauty in the world around us. Even if our journey seems pretty terrible most of the time, we can still enjoy natural beauty :-)
Don’t take my word for it. This is merely a travel (trail) guide. Some thoughts and recommendations. Completely ignore some and do your own thing. Others - stop and savour and really settle there for a while. Others - have a quick look and move along.
Our purpose is to make sure that when you look back on your life journey and the stories along the way - that they are better than you can ever imagine considering where you are right now.
See you soon with the first step - planning the start of the journey. Once we have that outline we can maybe look at our packing list and then begin the journey. Don’t worry about booking ahead though - this isn’t that sort of journey - this is one of those where you start walking and figure it out along the way.
