“I saw the window, so I took it,” was what he said. This was in response to the question of how did you quit large doses of prescribed pain medication and copious amount of pot smoking? He started out with neck pain and back pain. The pain medication and pot smoking rained down to cover the pain. There was also mention of PTSD lurking in the background. It needed something too. So he used substances, lots.
Then he quit.
How does it feel? “Good. now it’s just me,” he said.
I’m not sure why but he looked around, saw a window for change, and he took it. He didn’t deliberate. He didn’t wonder if he could do it. He figured it would be hard. He did it anyway.
Maybe he got lucky. He didn’t notice a painful withdrawal. He said it was neither painful or dramatic. A little while after he stopped the pain medication, his pain got better, decreased noticeably. After he stopped smoking pot, he felt more engaged/available in his relationships.
Now he actively meditates, gets acupuncture, and looks for holistic ways to nurture a healthy body/mind/spirit path. He wants to be active in his life, engaged, and, as he said, “become better.”
I see a lot of people who want to make positive changes happen. They are very sincere. But they struggle with obstacles. Real or imagined, the obstacles get in the way. Real or imagined, excuses clog the path, the stream, the field, and ultimately, the window. They can’t get to the window, much less open it.
I am curious, how we get there ourselves? How do we help each other? How do I help clients? I had a teacher once tell me that what I do (acupuncture/Chinese medicine) is like a housekeeper and gardener. The practitioner must help to trim the brush, sweep the walkway, wash the windows, clean the pond, hang up laundry in the sun to dry…. you get the idea. This maintenance and attention to the inner and outer landscape may lead to a sharper focus. It cleans up the noise and distraction and leads to an easier path to a row of open windows with bird songs floating in.
How people get there is diverse. The man I talked to seemed to just bob to the surface one day and it happened. I think a lot people can be motivated by witnessing others, being inspired. Though many appear to have inspiration like a new baby, a dream job, a great love, a new house- all the stuff we can see- none of this is enough to actually make change. From what I have seen, change comes from a deep inner place that has its own reasons and they can’t be seen or analyzed. They just are there and they have a louder voice than all of the reasons to not change.
Where do you find inspiration that lifts you and lasts?
