3 Misconceptions About Illness and Disease

We are all conditioned from a very young age that illness and dis-ease are random occurrences that are out of our ability to control. From birth we are exposed to thoughts and beliefs such as how frail our bodies are, how susceptible we are to illness, and how we have no cures for many of the so called ‘major illnesses’ prevalent in the world. We are programmed to believe that we are victims to the outside world and that we are powerless little ants walking around not knowing which illness will squash us next.

This article is written for all those who are seeking to break free from the old beliefs about illness and dis-ease. It is for those who are ready to embrace new ideas that promote empowerment and liberation. What follows is a brief list of 3 misconceptions about illness and dis-ease and how we can begin to break free of these old conditioned ways of thinking.

Misconception #1: Illness and Dis-ease Have Physical Causes

Traditional views teach us that these are caused by physical means. For example, if you get a cold, it is because you “caught a cold” from being out in the cold or because someone sneezed on you etc. Another example is in regards to being overweight, as it is commonly thought that people become overweight because they either eat too much or do not exercise enough, or a combination of both. It is based on the belief that there is something external to you, that there is an “out there” separate from you.

To break free of this misconception, we understand that nothing physical can cause anything else that is physical. The physical level is the level of effect, and the level of effect has no power to create anything in and of itself. One of the great universal laws is the law of cause and effect. Very simply, this law states that for every effect there is a cause and to every cause there is an effect. Illness and dis-ease operate on the level of effect, meaning they are only effects and not the cause. The causal levels are the mental, emotional and spiritual levels, these levels are often referred to as “within” a person.

Misconception #2: Illness and Dis-ease is an Enemy

Most of us are taught as children that sickness is bad and that we need to “fight” against or it will destroy us. All forms of sickness are considered as being caused by some type of foreign body that is invading our body in an attempt to harm or hurt us. Resultantly, all attempts are made by current medicine to destroy the physical illness or dis-ease by medication or other such physical treatments. From this point of view, we are not cured until the physical 'invader' is no longer visible or traceable in our bodies, and thus, the so called enemy has been overcome.

This misconception is broken down when we understand and perceive correctly that illness and dis-ease is our friend, rather than our foe. In this way, it is merely seen as a physical effect, i.e. a message from the body, that what is happening within us, on the level of cause, is not in balance with our greatest good or our own best interests. Whenever we are acting out of harmony with love, we receive feedback in our bodies in the form of illness and dis-ease to help us become aware that we are out of balance within ourselves.

Misconception #3: Illness and Dis-ease is Separate from You

This was briefly mentioned in #1, in that we have been conditioned to believe that these are things which are external to us. Because we can see a virus, a bacteria etc., in our bodies, it appears that these foreign bodies are external to us, that they have nothing to do with us. For example, we believe we get the flu as the result of contracting the influenza virus, because it can be seen through a microscope; therefore, it is deemed as being separate or external from us. In the traditional way of thinking, we have contracted this “external” virus via some type of physical contact, either through another person, animal etc.

Consequently, this is one of the hardest misconceptions to let go of, as it is the one that seems the most accurate based on our senses and what we perceive with them. Nonetheless, if we are to fully understand the role of illness & dis-ease in our lives, it is one we must change. Even though it is hard to understand at first, all illness is the result of non-physical causes. In other words, they are simply outward manifestations of thoughts and emotions that are taking place within us. When we experience a physical illness or dis-ease, we have not contracted anything physical, but in reality have contracted the thinking or belief system that causes the physical effect in the form of a specific illness or dis-ease.

In the cases of epidemics, the duration and extent of an epidemic is directly proportional to the particular belief system that maintains it. The people affected by such widespread dis-ease are allowing themselves to be overrun by the way of thinking prevalent at the time.

Conclusion

From this perspective, we begin to understand that all forms of illness, injury and dis-ease are there to help us; not to hinder, hurt or destroy us. This article is merely an introduction to a different way of approaching health & wellbeing. There are many who have been advocating this approach for many years, including Louise Hay, Lise Bourbeau and Deepak Chopra to name a few. You have nothing to lose in considering this approach, although our natural tendency is to resist, as our ego (beliefs) doesn’t like to be challenged and asked to change from the status quo.

The Art of Letting Go

Have you ever noticed how the more you try and control your life, the worse it seems to get? In the same vein, have you noticed how the more attached you are to an outcome happening ‘the way you want it’ actually makes it not happen that way at all? Have you ever wondered why it happens that way? If you’re like most people, including yours truly, then the answer is yes.

I personally have experienced this multiple times in my life. You might ask yourself in times like these, like I do, what the heck is going on? Why can’t I seem to control everything that goes on in my life? I mean, isn’t that the purpose of life in the first place, to learn to control life more and live it like you want? I don’t know about you, but this is the impression I was under growing up. So then what is really going on here?

As you begin to ponder such questions, I want you to start thinking about times in your life when you seemed detached from the outcome, where you couldn’t care less what happened. As you think back into the past right now, do you notice how most of those events actually turned out in a positive way, much to your surprise? Have you ever noticed that the more you let go of the outcome, or the less you try to control it, the more likely it is to work out for you? Does this seem confusing to you?

What is going on here? This seems to contradict what logic says should happen in our lives. Why is it that the more attached you are, the less likely it is too happen the way you want it? Wouldn’t it make sense to have something work how you want it? And so it is that the remainder of this post is dedicated to answering these questions and more.

It is interesting to note as one begins to contemplate such questions, that there appears on the surface to be a great paradox here. In the first place we are told to set goals, in some cases to set very precise goals, for how we want to live our lives. Yet it seems that if we become too attached to these goals, that they are never achieved the way we want. Then on the other hand, if we set a goal and let go of how it is achieved, it seems more likely that a way is provided to accomplish that goal and then some. Talk about Pandora’s Box!

This introduces us to one of life’s greatest paradoxes; the paradox that we are in control of our lives and not in control of our lives at the same time. For many this will be your first time thinking in such a way. On this train of thought let us delve head first into figuring out exactly what is going on here.

On the surface it does seem much like a paradox, but as we delve deeper we find it is not a paradox at all. As we look at this great paradox from an energetic point of view we find the following: 1) when you are attached too what you want you’re vibrating lack, that you don’t have what you want; 2) when you are detached from the outcome you are vibrating in harmony with what you want, that you do have it. Do you notice the difference? It is all about our state in the present moment. Why is it that way? It is because the present moment is all there really is. No other moment exists outside of now!

In that way it matters little what we want in the future, but everything about whom we are now. It is the present moment that creates the future, one moment at a time. And so we have uncovered the two major ingredients in how to create the life we want. First we must be detached from the outcome, and second we must vibrate in harmony with what it is we want. Let’s look at these two ingredients separately for a moment.

There is a reason why being detached allows you to bring the thing you want into reality. It is because all possibilities exist in the now; present, past and future. All things past, present and future exist right now. We are unlimited beings with the potential to become anything we desire to be. The universe is on our side if we allow it by letting go. Being detached tells the universe that you already have what you want, which is the truth. When you live and vibrate from this truth, you allow it to become a reality in your life. Alternately, when you are attached it tells the universe that you do not have what you want, which is false. When you live and vibrate from this illusion, you stop what you want from becoming a reality.

Therefore the key to obtaining what you want in your life is to be in vibrational harmony with it all the while remaining detached. To narrow it down even further you can say it is all about who you are, as your state creates your reality. Therefore the art of letting go comes down to acknowledging within yourself that you already have everything you need to create the life you want. You can be, do and have anything you desire once you realise that you are a being of infinite potential and light.

In my own life I have found that once I set the intention for what I want it is best to leave it to the universe, to God, to bring about how it becomes a reality in my life. Put another way, it is us that determines the what and why and God that provides the when and how. It is not our job to dictate how something should happen, nor should it be. What great relief this provides to the person that comes to this understanding. Oh the pressure that comes off the shoulders when one realises that they do not have to know the how and when.

As we let go of trying to determine the how and when in life we begin to experience greater success. Once we set the intention, the why and what, it is about letting go and staying detached from the thing we want, for in the very act of doing so, we find it appearing in the most glorious of ways. And this is the secret and beauty of life, not knowing exactly how things will happen in life, but knowing all the while that it will happen. May we all begin to let go in our lives so that we may experience life in all the beauty and splendour that it has to offer.