Healing
The fountain of youth doesn't exist.
(Sorry.)
Eventually, everything wears out; every biologic dies.
Eventually.
While each of us will one day have an appointment with death, through diligent effort, I believe we can delay that appointment. Or, at least, arrive there in better overall health, with many good days under our belts.
Many Christians believe in miraculous, divine healing. I'm one of them. I believe, too, God offers us many natural ways, or streams, to health and wholeness. But, unlike the miraculous, each stream doesn't bring healing with it directly. No. But, interestingly, each stream contains something in its headwaters that facilitates the health and wellness we desire.
Healing in this natural manner takes work. And it takes time, too. Ultimately, the outcomes are connected directly to how we live and the choices we make day-in and day-out.
To find health, we must each swim upstream, for all good things are found in the headwaters. All you'll find downstream is muck and debris. While the goal is, of course, our healing, don't forget the byproduct of swimming upstream: the person we become in the effort. That, in and of itself, is a part of our healing.
Circling back to the whole arena of divine healing, I believe very much in doing everything I can to achieve health and wellness and then looking to God to do what I cannot do for myself. God intends life to be a partnership—between us and Him. Metaphorically (in terms of our health), God provides the soil, the sun, the rain, the nutrients, and the seeds; and He expects us to use (to the best of our abilities) what He's given us to create a vibrant, life-giving garden of wholeness. If my life's been overtaken by weeds, pests, and non-native invasives, I have no one to blame but myself. As the saying goes, the body I have at 50 is 99.99% my fault. I'm 52 (and going on 53); who I am is most definitely my fault.
Provided below are the many different streams I'm swimming up in this very moment. I long not just find wholeness in body and mind, but to become wholeness itself. Not just to bathe in the life and love I need to sustain me, but to become it. To become (as much as a created being can resemble His Creator) like Life and Love Himself. In the below list, I choose not to write anything particularly specific about the streams I'm swimming. Why? Because my streams aren't yours, and yours aren't mine. They may be similar, but only in the ways in which you and I are similar. As such, you must take complete responsibility for your healing and choose to swim the streams calling out to you. Take the time, within the context of your own life and struggles, to think through these things and to seek not just your own healing but to become health as you swim the paths before you.
The Twelve Streams I'm Swimming up in this Moment
Connecting intimately with God Almighty (my Father) and letting Him Love me the way He Desires.
Banding together with other men (my brothers).
Resting and sleeping peacefully (and in sufficient quantities).
Eating and drinking healthily.
Moving well and as often as I can.
Forgiving myself, God, and others.
Pursuing deep friendships with those around me (including myself).
Engaging in worthwhile work.
Setting lofty goals.
Emptying myself into others.
Embracing that which takes my breath away: the kind words of a friend, romantic (and fun) days and nights out, Bugs Bunny and Winnie the Pooh cartoons, sunsets, kombucha, watermelon salad, really good books and movies (my personal canon in warriorship), ambient music, movie soundtracks, double-double Burpees, and everything in between!).
Researching the medical, physiological, psychological, and leadership sciences (as they relate to me and those I love and care about).
IKIGAI Weekly Blog Schedule (per The Training Trinity):
Mondays: Meditative Prayer
Wednesdays: Holistic Discipline
Fridays: Martial Arts Practice
