Continuation of the article “We must take care of each other (part 1)”
When everything changes
Every day, many of the “not so sick” lose the fight and become “chronically sick.” That’s when the realization usually comes. The fall they experience leads them to a new awakening about the way they have been perceiving the world.
By this point, the “not-so-sick” feel secure and at ease about how they have managed or resolved their minor or temporary symptoms. They feel confident because they believe they have found some help in the form of a conventional doctor or specialist, or a chiropractor who claims to be an expert in more advanced natural health care. When they find these health care practitioners, the “not-so-sick” people are at the beginning of the awareness curve, and what they are learning from their doctor or practitioner is new to them. They are not yet sick enough to realize that these may not be the answers they are looking for, because the problems they are facing at this stage are mild enough to seem partially or even temporarily solved by what seems to them to be intelligent, cutting-edge alternative health thinking.
They might say, "Here's a product for your microbiome, because everything comes from the gut," or "Here's a medicine and a powder, a multivitamin, a herbal complex, all in line with a sugar-free diet. Focus on protein and follow a keto diet," or "We're going to take some stool samples and check your gut balance. Here's a probiotic," or "We're going to do some blood work, look at your nutritional profile, see where your deficiencies are."
When you first hear things like this, you can feel the satisfaction of the advice you're getting. You feel guided. You find determination that you can make small changes that could be helpful. All of this boosts your self-esteem because you're not as sick. You can still exercise. You can still consume caffeine. You're not a canary. You're strong and now you feel like a health expert.
Some of today's "not-so-sick" people truly believe they are experts on everything they've ever experienced with their health. They've had an acute problem or condition, or recurring symptoms that have confused them, they've gotten help, they've learned something that seems like cutting-edge information, they seem to have overcome it or dealt with it, and now they're suddenly health experts. They're giving advice on social media, they're giving guidance to other people who are far sicker.
When you are “not so sick,” you can have fun in the world of reading about new theories or trying new supplements from alternative medicine, or reading about old techniques that have been around for the past decade or two. It never occurs to you that these theories, supplements, and old techniques are exactly the ones that the “chronically sick” have already tried. Modern products, modern technologies—the “chronically sick” have tried them all and only got worse. Meanwhile, the “not so sick” can play in these modern places and even revive old techniques and theories for other “not so sick” people to enjoy, making them popular again. The “not so sick” don’t realize that when they start getting worse because the scales of their health have finally tipped in the opposite direction, the approaches they have tried for their health will prove to be useless. What they believed in or directed others towards was ultimately not helpful.
Before the point of their health really getting worse, it doesn’t take much for a “not-so-sick” person to feel the benefit of a healing technique. Many of these people are only intermittently sick, with mild symptoms that come and go on their own, seemingly improving with a little sleep, a new vitamin protocol, a nutritional diet, intermittent fasting, lymphatic massage, sauna treatments, breathing techniques, or exercise. The world of alternative medicine is full of many modern possibilities. The “not-so-sick” have the freedom to play around in this world, to chatter, to pick up something interesting to tell others about, and to remain totally isolated from the difference between being “not-so-sick” and being “chronically sick.”
Being “chronically ill” is a completely different reality. The “chronically ill” are done with the world of games. They have gained experience. They have already taken probiotics, fish oil, whey protein powder and other protein powders, charcoal, oil extraction, neem oil, L-carnitine, chlorella, diatomaceous earth, sodium bicarbonate, intestinal powder, bentonite clay and other clays, zeolite, fulvic acid, deer antler, colostrum, collagen, protein bars, MCT oil, kombucha, chocolate, green tea, apple cider vinegar, chlorophyll, alkaline-ionized water machines, and dozens of others. The “chronically ill” have also gained their experience from visiting dozens of doctors and trying everything, including fecal transplants, bee sting therapy, urine therapy, coffee enemas, Rife machines, stem cell therapy, UV blood irradiation, ozone, cold therapy, etc. The experienced “chronically ill” have tried it all.
The “not-so-sick” may believe, when they first experience symptoms, that the world of health is at their disposal, as they stumble upon remedy after remedy with confident doctors who have also not faced a serious health problem. The search for a way to heal begins at the most basic level. The sicker you get, the more you sift through what is offered to you for treatment.
The “not-so-sick” often think it’s impossible to ever get chronically ill. They don’t even want to think that they could ever get there because it’s scary and their health approach should be the answer. They still do their workouts, they still have their “who days” (dirty days), they feel like they’re maintaining balance, practicing moderation, living their life intuitively. They believe that this person, the “chronically sick” one, is not them. This will not be them.
The moment you are faced with a chronic illness, everything changes. It is a different world, a world of survival. Your goals are different from the goals of the “not so sick”. Things in your life change. Even relationships can change. It is a whole different world of understanding health.
Privileged position
When someone crosses the line from “not so sick” to “chronically sick,” it becomes a challenge not only for them. It is also a challenge for those around them. Chronic illness can be exhausting for the person who suffers from it. At the same time, it can quickly tire those around them.
It's different when it's a mother concerned about her child. A mother will do anything to fight for her little one. Mothers have the ability to reprogram themselves every morning as if it were a brand new day, with all the possibilities and chances before them. Most mothers will fight for their children tirelessly, with spirit and energy.
When you are an older person who gets sick, it can be harder to find people around you who are patient with you. The struggle and struggle to survive as a “chronic patient” is very difficult for the “not so sick.” Some of them are humble and respectful enough to believe that what others are going through is real. Others, however, distance themselves from the sick people in their lives because of emotions such as uncertainty, fear, and discomfort that the illness creates in them. In such cases, some of these “not so sick” people may misunderstand their luck and privilege that they have not yet been infected with enough pathogens or completely engulfed by toxins in their daily lives. Some of them mistake this simple circumstance of better health for superiority. This even makes some healthy people feel privileged. Somehow they don't see themselves as being as susceptible to the same threats that create chronic illness in others and instead assume that they are simply better, more "put together", more motivated, better at taking care of themselves.
The privilege of being “not so sick” even leads some people to believe that they have the right to judge whether other people’s stories of suffering and healing are legitimate or not. Sometimes “not so sick” people think that the mild or temporary symptoms they have experienced are on the same level as what the “chronically ill” go through and are not understanding when the “chronically ill” do not recover the way they did. For example, a “not so sick” person gets occasional mild headaches. If someone tells them that they suffer from chronic, constant headaches, the “not so sick” person may think that they understand, that what they have experienced is the same. But the “not so sick” person will have a hard time understanding why the person with chronic headaches does not get relief from various therapies and techniques – because they have not understood the depth of what the “chronically ill” person goes through day after day. The “not so sick” person may begin to think that the pain of the “chronically sick” person is imaginary.
The “not-so-ill” people who occupy this “privileged position” use it as a measure of whether someone else’s experience matches their own. If someone’s story doesn’t match their own, it’s hard for them to believe it or to legitimize it. Some of the “not-so-ill” carry within them a belief, a confidence, that they are more successful in discovering the gifts and mysteries of life, spiritually and medically, than the “chronically ill.” One would think that the world should be becoming more compassionate toward the “chronically ill,” more understanding. Rather, it is the opposite. The lack of compassion for the “chronically ill” is a trend that is actually growing.
The article uses materials from Anthony William's book "The Medium Healer: Salvation for the Brain" .
