Quote of the day: “Words are pale shadows of forgotten names. As names have power, words have power. Words can light fires in the minds of men. Words can wring tears from the hardest hearts.” — Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind
Two days ago I got a diagnosis for a condition that has been a health problem for me for 30 years.
Two words
Two words that named a condition I had been experiencing for 30 years!
The power of words…
Two little words that changed everything and nothing!
They changed everything in the sense of finally knowing that there was a name for what I was experiencing. It is known. I am not the only person to experience this. I’m not malingering. I’m not making it up. I’m not crazy!
And the words changed nothing because just having a diagnosis or a name for something does not change it. And while the disease has a name, western medicine does not understand what causes it and treatment options are mostly palliative, treating symptoms, but not cause.
It is thought to be an auto-immune condition where the body’s immune system attacks itself.
I was filled with relief when I heard those 2 words. I had lots of questions, lots of “aha’s” as I heard the specialist’s answers.
The trick now is not to limit myself or the possibility for healing because of my beliefs about the illness.
When my oldest daughter was 3 she developed a chronic liver disease that specialists were unable to name. At first I was totally frustrated that we did not understand the cause of her ailment and could not name it. But over time, as one deadly disease after another was eliminated as a possible cause, I realized how very lucky we were to not have a name for her condition. Most of the kids with one of those liver diseases with names did not survive to adulthood.
Because we had no beliefs about what it was or what was possible, my husband and I followed our own best judgement, limiting activities that seemed to cause flareups, insisting that she get extra rest, and praying that she would heal. Over time she healed.
And now my lovely daughter is an adult living a normal life with 2 kids of her own.
Words carry energy, and beliefs, and assumptions.
Even as I acknowledge the two words that name the non life-threatening, but often limiting condition I’ve been diagnosed with, I’m being careful not to buy into a set of beliefs about that condition. I know my body from having 30 years of experience with this. And I know that at the same time as I am experiencing this annoying condition and other similar issues, I am whole and perfect.
Words can be freeing or limiting, we get to choose.
I choose freedom.
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