Radical Changes For Radical Healing

Sheesh, only five posts this month so far! I am really slacking in my duties as a blogger. Actually, I have been absent this month because I went home to Denver--after six months of Lyme-imposed exile in Costa Rica--and have been swamped with friends, work and a million errands to run. And while it's been the most exciting three weeks of my entire year, it has taken me away from productive time at the keyboard.

So I'm going to attempt once again to infuse consistency into my anything-but-consistent life. Friends and family in Denver have been asking me, "When are you coming home for good?" Home? I think I've moved three times over the last four years. I don't know where home is anymore. In fact, I walked into my duplex in San Jose last night after three weeks away and thought, a tad bewildered, "I live HERE?" So these days I feel like I have one foot planted in Denver and one foot soaked in swampy Central America.

Consistency? Nah. But I can blame it on Lyme.

But while it's not time for me to move back to the fast-paced world of Denver yet, being back in the big city reminded me of how much I've missed it. The thing is, I have experienced significant healing while living here in Costa Rica...and I've saved more than a few bucks in doing so. (Although, Guys, you gotta know, I don't while away my days sipping pina coladas on a warm beach), And while I have friends here too, as they say, "There's no place like home."

I'm not complaining, though. As I mentioned, there are some great healing benefits to being in Costa Rica, some of which I write about in my book, The Lyme Disease Survival Guide.

That doesn't mean, however, that coming here was easy. No, my Lyme Compadres, shlepping my body south was a radical, and difficult decision for me. But last year, I knew needed something more extreme than herbs, vitamins and all of my treatments in order to heal.

I needed a new environment; a shift in my geography and in my lifestyle, and to surround and shroud myself in another culture and another way of thinking...just to see if it would make a difference.

And I believe that it has.

No, I wouldn't advocate that most super sick Lyme sufferers hop on a plane and try out life in another nation. What I would encourage is that they, that you, think outside the box when it comes to your healing. Get away from the idea that a drug or some ingestant is what will save your life--surely, they can help, but think about all aspects of your life--which ones contribute to your well-being, and which ones don't. And then ask yourself what you can do to change the ones that don't.

Or if you aren't sure what's keeping you in the Lyme sinkhole, how about contacting those on the Lyme disease support groups who have found healing, and examine their lives and their lifestyles. Perhaps you will gain insight into a strategy that can help you. For instance, do those who live by the water fare better than those who live at high altitude? What kind of purpose did these people have when they were ill? Were there activities they performed on a daily basis to encourage them in their healing? Did they live with friends? Alone?
And the list goes on...

I had a hunch about Costa Rica because of what I observed about the people the first time I came here ten years ago; there was a calm about them--a peace that I did not witness back home, and a deep faith in God. Add to that fresh fruit aplenty and an agreeable climate, and the memory prompted me to try out life here.

Don't be afraid to make a change in your Lyme life if your gut or your god is telling you to go. You may have to move away from what is safe and familiar, in order to find new paths that will lead you upward and onward in your journey.