Summary

Illness can serve as a transformative period, prompting individuals to reassess their life priorities and embrace healthier lifestyles and attitudes.

Abstract

The article discusses the potential positive outcomes of falling ill, emphasizing that while illness is typically associated with negative emotions, it can provide a necessary pause for individuals to reconsider their life choices and habits. It suggests that many illnesses are psychosomatic, highlighting the connection between mental health and physical well-being. The experience of illness can force a person to re-evaluate their priorities, recognize the importance of health, and become aware of their vulnerabilities. It can also act as a catalyst for spiritual growth, encouraging individuals to look beyond material success and physical existence, fostering humility and a deeper understanding of life's purpose.

Opinions

Illness can lead to a re-examination of life's priorities and the realization that health is the foundation for enjoying other pleasures.
Many people live without acknowledging the importance of a healthy lifestyle and managing stress, which can lead to illness.
The article posits that most illnesses have a psychosomatic component, indicating a strong link between mental state and physical health.
Illness can serve as a reality check for those who consider themselves strong, revealing their vulnerable side and necessitating help from others, thus reducing ego and fostering humility.
It can help individuals identify who truly cares for them, often shifting their prioritization of relationships.
The article uses the example of Ram, a doctor who, after suffering a heart attack, re-prioritized his life to balance work with family time and personal health.
The experience of illness can lead to spiritual insights, such as the acceptance that many aspects of life are beyond individual control and the recognition that love transcends the physical body.
The article concludes that if approached with the right spirit, illness can have a transformative effect on a person, leading to changes in lifestyle, attitude, and even life goals.

Learnings From Illness

There is a lot to gain from an illness

The word illness generally has a negative emotion associated with it. Though one suffers during an illness it can provide a forceful break from the general manner in which one runs his life. It gives an opportunity to re-examine the priorities in life and bring about positive changes in one’s attitude and thinking.

We just go with the flow

Most people just go with the flow of life. They do things without thinking about why are they doing it. In the process, some of them do not follow a healthy lifestyle and are constantly under stress. If the body of the person is sensitive then after a certain timeframe it just gives up and the person gets illness.

“Most of the illnesses are psychosomatic and that means the mental state of the person had a lot to do with creating such illnesses.”

Illness provides a forceful re-examination

When a person gets ill, it forces him to reconsider the priorities in life. Maybe the material success after which he was running may not seem important at all.

“He may even realize the importance of his health as it is the basis over which other forms of pleasures can be enjoyed.”

All the material successes can be enjoyed only when we have good health.

For some people who act as strong, illness provides a reality check and shows them their vulnerable side.

“For others who do not seek help from others, it forces them to seek help from people around them. This helps in lowering the ego of the person and makes him humble.”

Illness also provides a person to assess the people who really care for him. He may have been prioritizing others over them but now he knows who is really important in his life.

Many people get ill because they do not know how to put a break to their busy lifestyle. It’s a way of body regaining its balance and in the meantime providing ample time for the person to reassess his goals in life.

Example: Ram is a doctor who is busy with his work most of the time. In this process, he doesn’t give enough time to his family and also doesn’t care for his health as well. His body coped with his unhealthy lifestyle for a few years but eventually gave up.

Ram got a heart attack that forced him to undergo surgery. During the time he was in the hospital, he reevaluated his priorities in life. Though his work was making other people regain health in the process he didn’t care for his own health. He decided that if he gets well then he will work only a stipulated number of hours and will spend the rest with his family as it is his family who actually cares for him and stands by him in his time of need. The patients for whom he sacrificed his life didn’t care enough for him. He also decided to follow a healthy diet and do regular exercise.

Ram also was a very authoritative person but his incident showed him that he too is vulnerable. He was dependent upon others for his wellbeing and that helped in lowering his ego. He became a more humble person.

Eventually, the heart operation was performed on Ram and after spending some time in hospital he again came back to living life normally. But he did not lead the life in an earlier manner. He brought about positive changes in his lifestyle and attitude and lived a more healthy, happy, and balanced life.

Illness can have spiritual benefits

In current times Coronavirus is sweeping across the globe making a huge number of people sick. Most of the previous reasons for getting illness may not be valid in this case as a person who follows a perfect diet and takes care of his body can also get ill.

In such cases also one can gain some spiritual benefits. It shows a person that there are many things that are not under his control. The universe may have a different plan for the individual. One just has to let go of control and surrender to the universal plan. This helps in lowering the ego of the person.

The fear of losing a loved one is also high during these covid times. It can make a person realize the truth that the one we love is not the body made out of the earth. After death, the person becomes the earth then does it mean that we loved the earth? We actually loved the energy that exists beyond the physical body and it will exist even after the physical body is no more. Believing in this spiritual truth shall relieve us from the fear of losing loved ones and also our own death.

Conclusion

A person who gets illness does suffer physical pain but if taken in the right spirit, this illness can have a transforming effect on the person. Illness gives a person a mandatory time to reevaluate his priorities in life and reconsider his earlier habits. It also can show the vulnerable part of the individual thus lowering his ego and making him more humble. Illness sometimes also leads to spiritual growth in the person as he now thinks beyond his gross physical body and sometimes this realization can help him re-evaluate his goal in life. Maybe what he was running after may not be worth the effort and that there might be a better purpose of leading his life. Thus, if taken in the right spirit, an illness can truly bring about transformative changes in a person.