Not long ago someone close to me was struggling and in an awfully bad place mentally. I tried offering encouragement that it is possible to turn things around. They told me that they were glad I had discovered something I care about and that everything in my life just fell into place, but that it doesn’t happen that way for most people.
I wanted to laugh out loud at the idea of everything just falling into place, as if it happened with no effort on my part. Healing doesn’t just happen, at least not most of the time. It is true that I discovered something (Reiki) that I am passionate about and that my life has improved in amazing ways since then. It did not just happen, without effort, though. It took a lot of work.
What Reiki did, was help me to relax and calm my mind enough for me to wake up spiritually and see my life clearly. Reiki provided me with a path to healing, but I still had to choose to take that path and continue to put one foot in front of the other to travel down it. I had to choose to keep going when I encountered doubt and obstacles. I had to keep listening to the quiet urgings of my Higher Self and Spirit even when I didn’t know where they were leading me or why. Reiki provided me with the path, but I had to do the work and now that my life has turned around and is wonderful, I keep doing the work.
After being attuned, I did self-Reiki and practiced the Reiki Principles every day. I did not experience instantaneous healing, but I had hope and faith that it would help me and kept it up. Gradually, there was a change in me. Following are the five major steps, or milestones, of my healing journey.
1. I was able to relax. In the weeks following my first attunement, tension that I had been holding on to for years started to ease away. As the tension eased, so did my physical pain. The less physical pain I felt the more hope I had, the more hope I had the less pain I felt…it was a wonderful cycle of events. It was an enormous contrast to the downward cycles I had been used to in my life such as the “pain leading to despair, leading to more pain cycle”, that had left me almost incapacitated with Fibromyalgia. I was filled with gratitude for this turn of events.
2. I realized I had power. I had the power to heal myself. I could keep this wonderful healing cycle going if I chose. We all have this power and it is a great gift.
3. I realized that the power to heal myself would do me no good if I did not take responsibility for my life and my own healing. I had to take ownership of my life and accept the responsibility for making it what I wanted it to be.
4. I took action toward repairing my life. I began faithfully depending on the Reiki Principles for guidance in my action and attitudes. I made healthier choices for my body. I set healthier boundaries with other people. I set a higher worth for myself and treated myself with renewed respect accordingly.
5. I keep going. I get pushed out of my comfort zone again and again, but I keep going. I keep trusting my instinct, my Higher Self, and Spirit to guide me to better and better places. I accept with love and gratitude even the hardest parts of life because I know they are part of my path and will help me learn the lessons I need to live the life I want.
Healing does not just happen. Life does not just get better on its own. It takes work and sometimes that work is hard and scary, but it is always worth it. It feels so much better to accept responsibility and do that work and take power over your life than to continue to leave that responsibility to outside influences and just hope things will work out.