I tell every client and potential client I speak with, “It is better to have a good life than a good case.” I am trying to emphasize that people need to deal with their injury or illness positively. I know this is easier said than done and a recent bout with a root canal and reminded me how hard it must be for my clients whose pain never goes away. The following brief article by my wise and thoughtful friend Len Jernigan has some suggestions on how to move ahead and hopefully regain a good life. Hopefully these suggestions will help some of you.
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Many people are confronted with death or disability whether as a result of an accident or otherwise. We do our best to help those who were wronged by another or hurt on the job to receive compensation for their injuries. But compensation cannot cure the underlying problem, only help to make life more bearable. True healing is as much a mental as a physical process.
The following tips for healing have been adapted from the writings of Dr. Bernie Siegal, the author of many books including Love, Medicine, and Miracles; Peace, Love, and Healing; and 365 Prescriptions for the Soul. We hope you find these tips helpful in your healing process.
- Accept your illness: you know the illness is there, but you also know the future will be something you can handle so it’s no longer a burden.
- See the illness as a source of growth: our primitive nervous system tells us that if we have a loss you grow something to replace what was lost.
- View your illness as a positive redirection in your life: your whole life changes when you say that something is just a redirection. You are then at peace.
- Understand death or recurrence is not a failure if steps 1,2 or 3 are accomplished, but a further choice or step: when you accept the inevitability of death (which comes to all of us ) you begin to realize that the time you really have is right now.
- Learn self-love and peace of mind and the body responds: when you believe you are a worthwhile person, and you tell yourself that you are here to give something to the world, your immune system responds positively.
- Don’t make physical change your sole goal: try to obtain peace of mind, acceptance and forgiveness. Learn to love. You may be surprised that the disease goes away in the process.
- Achieve immortality through love: the only way you can live forever is to love somebody- then you really leave a gift behind.