A Sick Tool

“Our illnesses are a special gift.  They allow us to have an extraordinary view into our mortality.”  - Wickham Gubler

A Sick Tool

A few weeks ago I saw my friend Wick and I recognized something new.  I wish I could say I didn’t know what the bubbling skin around his eyes and nose was.  But I did.  I knew the bubbling skin was a result of a medical procedure to remove diseased tissue.

What I didn’t know was the exact illness Wick now had or what his personal thoughts about it were.  After all, people react to life threatening illness in their own way, but there are also common reactions that almost everyone has when coming to grips with such illness.

Wick, two other friends and I were meeting together talking about this very thing; the impact of illness and other kinds of personal challenges.  One of these friends has struggled with heart disease and diabetes for almost all of his adult life and on this particular day he was exceptionally careworn and was expressing his frustration.

Upon hearing his distress, though Wick’s illness is newly manifested it has already changed him enough that he encouraged our burdened friend by saying, “Our illnesses are a special gift.  They allow us to have an extraordinary view into our mortality.”

“Tell me more.” I entreated.

“It has allowed me to think back on all of the really wonderful experiences I’ve had during my life.  I appreciate them more than ever before now.  They’ve motivated me to defeat this disease and opened the door to a future of giving and receiving exceptional love.”  He imparted.

I turned his words over and over again in my mind comparing them to my familiarity with two other friends and wondered why it usually takes experienced contrast to motivate people to make dramatic change.  Even though I’ve spent hours and hours pondering this question I still can’t explain it.  But, I know its true.

My friend, John McDougall, a physician in Santa Rosa and author of the McDougall Plan, confirmed this concept of essential contrast when he told me that in most cases it takes severe illness to motivate people to want to change enough to live a healthier life.  In his personal case, a stroke at a young age revealed his future as a healer and change motivator.

The same kind of thing happened to my friend Glenn Earl.  He became ill and faced many health challenges as a young man.  But, his illness didn’t stop him.  It ushered in an opportunity for him to have a unique viewpoint related to medicine and holistic healing and he developed unique skills that have allowed him to heal others for the past thirty years.

In these cases, just like in Wick’s, illness and personal challenge was a gateway to a brighter future, not a death sentence.  It makes one wonder, doesn’t it?  It makes me wonder if perhaps you and I have been looking at the world, and the way its reality contrasts with our preconceived view of a fulfilling life, in a less productive way.  Our illnesses and challenges don’t have to be obstacles.  They can be openings to a future we could never have imagined without their unwelcomed presence.