Wellness versus Wholeness

I have been thinking a lot about how in the Western world we attempt to cast illness, dis-ease and suffering into the fire.

We use war like language as we describe fighting symptoms, winning or loosing a battle against a disease. Violent language such as this encourages us to reject something that is part of us as. We try to burn away what we cannot bear, rather than listen to what it might be asking of us

Suffering after all is part of the human condition. As we cling onto wellness, we are moving away from wholeness. Disempowering our ability to accept all parts of us, the dark and the light.

Frank Ostaseski writes beautifully on the notion of acceptance in the face of suffering. Acceptance opens the gate to the possibility of transformation.

It really is the starting point. We are all made of multiple parts. Instead of fighting this part of self, ask the question can I meet it instead? And from what place do I need to meet this part of me?

In the wisdom of the Five Elements, illness and suffering are not external enemies but messengers—indications of imbalance, opportunities for realignment. Each element offers a way of seeing, feeling, and responding to the human experience.

This is the opportunity to expand. I have come to sit down with my suffering. This is me in wholeness.

I surrender to it, but this does not mean I am giving up.