There is No Magic Bullet

I can’t speak for the rest of the world, but Americans really love quick fixes. Have you ever heard anything like this?

Do this one simple thing every day to get the abs you always wanted!

Only 6 weeks to the body you’ve dreamed of!

Feel better fast with this supplement!

Have a problem with ________? You can fix it easily with this 5-step plan!

It feels like everywhere you look someone is trying to sell you some feel-better-fast recipe. Why wouldn’t they? They probably do have some people that felt better immediately on their product/program/plan. There are true stories of people who experienced miracle cures. Someone takes magnesium and suddenly all their pain and depression is gone. Another person learns to meditate using a particular program and sees a complete regression in disease. There are people who start an exercise program and suddenly lose 100 pounds. These things do happen. The problem is that these are the exception rather than the rule. And although the stories are inspirational and make us have hope that our problems can change, they also raise false expectations which result in discouragement when the promised outcomes are not reached.

Why are results so varied? Well, simply because we are all very different. We have different bodies, brains, energy systems, life experiences, beliefs, emotions, goals, dreams, and more. Every single one of these elements influences how we respond to the world around us. They also influence how our particular illness or problem develops. There is no one thing that will work for every single one of us. It just won’t happen. If you take five people with the same disease, the root cause of the illness will be different for each of them. Yes, there may be some similar factors, but there are just as many factors that don’t match up and will change how each person responds to any particular product/program/plan.

So, if you are looking to get unstuck, to change your life, or heal from a long-term illness/condition, you need to know that there is no magic bullet. There is no one thing that is going to fix your problem(s). There is no quick fix that will miraculously make everything in your life better. What worked for your best friend may not work for you. What was the final solution for that person on TV might simply be the beginning of something for you.

I’m not telling you this to be discouraging, but instead to keep you from being disheartened. I spent a lot of years trying new things hoping that the next one would “fix” my problems and I could get back to my life. Each time I realized that whatever I was trying wasn’t the final solution, I’d get down in the dumps and think, “Well, back to the drawing board again.” I wish I had the perspective I have now. Looking back I see how nearly everything I tried did help. Some things had big impacts and others had small impacts. If I hadn’t been expecting a magic bullet, I wouldn’t have been quite so bummed out and could have celebrated my progress more.

We can get so caught up in the excitement of, “This is the cure I’ve been looking for!” that we fail to see the good any new program/product/plan is doing. The fact is, the longer you’ve been sick, the more likely it is that your illness has multiple causes. If you have been dealing with extreme anxiety for a while, there will be many layers of physical, energetic, and emotional roots attached to your problem. If you have a general diagnosis such as “chronic fatigue” it is likely that there are a lot of things causing it and that the challenges of multiple doctors trying to figure out what is wrong actually added to the original problems. Unraveling all this and addressing individual pieces of the problem takes time, patience, and (probably) numerous tools.

So my advice is stop expecting a miracle cure. See your healing as less of an event and more of a journey. You are going to explore different things, get to know yourself, and learn to listen to your body along the way. You’ll make some mistakes and maybe feel like you are wasting time. You’ll experience emotional ups and downs. Some things will feel great while others will only give you a tiny boost. That’s all part of the journey.

I know we all want to feel awesome and be happy. If I had a magic bullet that would make that happen, I’d give it to you (well, I’d take it first and then pass it on). But it doesn’t exist. It doesn’t exist because the journey of figuring out how to be healthy and whole is extremely complex. It is also bringing more of your true self to light. You find your authentic self in the process of stripping away those layers of beliefs, emotions, traumas underlying your physical illness. Many energy workers are so focused on love and happiness that they lose touch with the struggles of real life. They think that some Reiki and positive affirmations will fix it all. They think that if they ignore the negative stuff it will magically go away. I’m here to tell you that the reality is a tad more complicated than that. Creating health and wholeness can be the project of a lifetime.

That means you can be “healthy” and still have days when you feel lousy. You’ll still experience a cold, a hurt knee, or a day when you are down in the dumps. It also means that you can be happy with your life and have negative emotions. You get angry, sad, irritated, frustrated. Challenges still happen. Annoyances crop up. Some days are better than others. That’s life.

So as we are all on this journey of health and wholeness, know that you’ll likely need to try a lot of different things to figure out what works for you. You may need to see doctors AND do alternative therapies. You’ll have to do the hard work of getting in touch with your own emotions again. You’ll have days when you feel bad and will need to learn not to let it throw you into a downward spiral. You’ll get really good at understanding your own needs and setting your own boundaries. You’ll learn what brings you joy despite how your body feels that moment. You will learn that health and happiness doesn’t mean a complete absence of negative circumstances.

The energy work I do centers on Reiki, EFT, and IET along with a host of other techniques because I have found that they all have value in different situations and times. I needed them all to get me to where I am today. In my practice I keep all these tools in my box because every single person I work with is different and will need a unique mix of work to help them get unstuck and find their purpose. I don’t offer anything as a final “cure” because I know that just isn’t possible. In fact, many of my clients work with me and with other professionals at the same time because what they need is more than what any one of us can offer.

There is no magic bullet. Stop looking for it. Stop expecting to find a miracle cure. Start exploring and trying new things. Start celebrating your successes and small gains. Keep what works for you and drop the things that don’t. If you are caught up in the “but this worked for everybody else,” then drop that attitude fast (and read my article about who this mysterious “everybody” really is). It isn’t helping you at all and is likely putting you in the dumps for no reason. Adjust your expectations and your attitude will change quickly. You may even start to see some new paths forward and find some new things to try. There is no one thing that will make it all better, but there are lots of little things that, over time, will get you unstuck and change your life.

#energywork #lifecoach #unstuck