If you are reading this, you have likely spent a solid amount of time trying to figure out how to heal chronic illness, or chronic anxiety or mental health issues. 

I am about to share something with you today which may be a bit unexpected and contrary to anything else you have read on healing up to this point.  

You’ve read article after article on how to heal, right? 

You’ve learned which supplements to buy (you probably bought them), which water to drink (good-bye Brita, hello Berkey), which medications to take, lotions to rub, prayers to pray, groups to join, food to eat, drinks to drink, relationships to ditch, hot packs to heat, ice packs to ice, diets to ditch, sit ups to scrunch,

And.

It’s.

All.

Just.

Too.

Much.

So.  Stop it. 

Stop trying to heal.  I’m serious.  You’re stressing me out.  Guess who else is under some serious mental fatigue over all of this?  Yes, my friend, it is you.

Listen.  I’ve been there.  In fact, I was in a frantic, “must heal now” state of mind for close to two years.  I would research online for hours, buy every supplement I could, take it, and check to see if my symptoms were gone.  They never were.  

I would go to bed at night, praying for a miracle, and wake up as uncomfortable and forlorn as I was the day before. 

So, yeah.  The question of how to heal a chronic illness can be answered simply with: stop trying.  

Change Your Thinking from Healed to Healing

Now, I’m not as callous as you may think.  I do want you to get better, truly, but seriously friends, this is how.  

You must stop trying so hard. 

When I changed my mental framework from a “cause and effect” testing system (i.e. new supplement equals healed: yes or no) to a state of healing as a process, this was when I started to notice a change in my body.

Healing is a Rocky Path

So, how to heal a chronic illness?  Give yourself some grace.  It’s ok if your pain isn’t better five minutes after you took the new miracle med which so many claim healed them within seconds.  Why?  Because, as you may have heard before, healing is not linear.  

Healing is like taking a trek through Middle Earth.  One minute Frodo is off on an exciting journey with his friends, the next, he is getting stabbed in the neck by a  giant spider.  The journey has its ups and downs, my friends.  I mean, come on, giant spiders?  I’m out, yesterday. 

And yeah, those of us with chronic illness or ongoing mental health issues, have more obstacles on our path than most, but doesn’t every good plot?  

I know most of you would kindly hand your ever so interesting assortment of obstacles back to the universe which bestowed them upon you, but, I think, sometimes if we embrace the journey more than we try to resist it, we can maybe, possibly find some beauty in it: an adventure with a theme of perseverance, love and grace woven through each scene.                            [tweet this]

We have to change our perspective from an anticipation for immediately healed to living in a state of healING.  

The Annoying Outliers

Now, there are the exceptions.  In statistical analysis, we call these the “outliers”.

If some individuals were asked how to heal chronic illness, they would most definitely point to the specific treatments which worked for them and the spontaneous remission they made. 

I do believe this is possible, and believing is the first step, but when we work so hard, minute after minute, day after day, week after week, with an undying perseverance, and we see no results, it can become overwhelming.

It can also make your blood boil when you have been trying everything to no avail and Joe Schmoe on Facebook cracked open two golden eggs he got from a giant, turned around in a circle three times and suddenly he’s cured.  Forever.

Just keep in mind, Joe is an outlier.  He isn’t the norm.  Most of us take a much longer time to heal.

It can take just as long for us to wrap our minds around the fact that we will have to deal with our illness on and off for life.

This is hard.  This takes time to be at peace with.  So stop beating yourself up for not having it all figured out just yet.

Stop stressing, but don’t stop believing 

Stop trying so hard, yes, but don’t stop believing.  Don’t stop hoping.  Don’t stop persevering.  And truthfully, I don’t want you to stop taking your medications, doing your exercises, changing your diets and taking your supplements.  These are all good things.

Just stop bringing more anxiety upon yourself when you try so hard and still aren’t healed.  Stop inundating your mind with all the things you think you should do and start living in a grace filled, healing state of mind.

I do have some tips for newbies with chronic disease.  Some first aid for those of you who want more than just “stop it”.   

But for real.   

Stop it. 

Stop putting so much pressure on yourself to be healed, and start healING. 

It’s a long, windy, bumpy, road for some of us, but we learn some incredible, beautiful, unforgettable lessons along the way.