Life Is For The Well

One of my patients who has Chronic Fatigue Syndrome spent several years seeking help for her symptoms, going from doctor to doctor obsessed with the minutest details of her physical problems, which she tracked in a daily journal. She no longer does this. What she had thought was that you had to be without symptoms to enjoy life, to go to the theater, to have children, to love. It was as if life could only be lived by well people. In meditation, it came to her that her chronic disease was not stopping her from participating in life, but the meaning she had assigned to it, that she could not participate in life because of it, was far more limiting than the disease itself. She was surprised to realize that there was absolutely no reason why if she felt weak or was in some pain, she couldn't still go to the theater. It might take her longer to get to her seat. Once there, if she felt too poorly, she might have to leave early. She might even have to miss the last act. One never knew. But the meaning she had assigned to her symptoms was causing her to miss the whole play.

She has stopped pursuing the perfect health she once had and does what she can to strengthen her body in simple, natural ways. Instead of seeing four or five doctors a week, she now consults her doctors only for serious problems. She has discovered that by being willing to begin without being certain of the outcome, she is often able to do a great deal more than she would have thought.

- Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D.

Kitchen Table Wisdom