An Abbreviated and Unfinished Health Journey Story

The First Phase of My Health Journey

Childhood Health Journey

My personal health journey started with a very healthy birth and even in infancy I believe I was normal and healthy. Time would tell though, and my true health journey was full of ups and downs. I started out physically healthy and therefore, I only had a slow decline as a young adult in my 30’s. Now, as I get older, I am returning to being physically healthy again.

From an early age I had always struggled emotionally. As I matured many of those unhealthy emotions were slowly repaired, which is the cause of the return of my good health. Hindsight is greater always, so as I look back on my life, I see the unwinding of my story even from birth.

I was bottle fed, because that was the “best thing to do” when I was an infant according to the “authorities” at that time. Feeding me bottled milk is one part that my mom always regretted. But there were a great many other things she did that set me on the road to good health. For example, when I was a baby, it was said that if my mom wanted me to do something, she would bribe me with vegetables, and baby food vegetables. As a child, intuitively I always ate very slowly. I know now that that is an important process in properly digesting food.

Growing up, I did not have to pay much attention to what I ate. But then, we only had healthy choices. We did not eat fast food from restaurants, most of the food I ate was homemade. Mom taught me many recipes and we preserved many jars of homegrown garden produce.

My Second Phase of My Health Journey

Studies, Courses and Therapies

My Mom and I had an intense interest in nutrition and took courses in nutrition together. We read many of the same health-oriented books about natural healing. My family had always visited a chiropractor, so I learned early about alternative health practitioners. That is how I saw firsthand how chiropracting can heal and how it can prevent or detect disease.

I remember a time when I felt very sick as a toddler and the doctor made late night clinical visits to our home. That impressed me that doctors were really interested in providing good health. Later on, my mom became an x-ray technician, and she would take us to the family medical doctor when we needed it.

My interests in the medical field grew and I studied all about digestion processes while I was taking courses in nursing. My passion grew as I learned about eating whole foods. I started my own garden and preserving my own foods.

My naturopathic health practitioner taught me practical ways of keeping myself “gut healthy”. I worked hard at eating great healthy food and taking the supplements I needed. I was not into fads, but I was interested in eating whole foods. I felt that whole foods would give me a complete nutrition instead of a spotty one.

There were a great many books I bought that I could recommend. I have a list of books that I read that I will share in future posts. One of the best ones I loved was Back to Eden, by Jethro Kloss. I felt it was best to take a holistic approach to health.

The Third Phase of my Health Journey

My New Unhealthy Disease State Progresses

I already had some disease process steps going in my life. I had personal emotional and physical trauma as a child, therefore, I developed a case of anorexia as a teen. In a high anxiety state, the emotional feelings I experienced predisposed me to a compromised gut health. I knew that was heading me toward a disease state. Because I still held on too many of my successful health practices, my decline was not rapid.

The Fourth Phase of My Health Journey

My Breaking Point and Time of Health Crisis Begins

In a time of crisis that lasted more than 10 years, I realized that having success in life meant I needed to go back to what practices I knew worked and live them wholeheartedly. I had experienced more personal trauma again. Feeling burned out and hopeless, I turned away from the ingrained healthy practices I had been following. That was not very smart, but my whole life culture changed. I went through what I called “culture shock”. Confused, I did not know where my stable ground was. 

I felt pushed back into the working world after being a successful and healthy wife and mother, actively homeschooling, growing my own produce, living the life I always dreamed of. Whew, that was a mouthful, but that is how I felt – shocked and insecure and traumatized, not knowing where to turn next. Determined somehow to find my way back to peace, it was a long struggle. 

My progress back to health involved trying every type of therapy, natural healing and traditional healing that I could get myself into. I am very cautious and did much research. It became a very involved process for me as I slowly progressed from complete burnout and a compromised health that showed signs of autoimmune disease states to a more stable and healthier lifestyle.

I did journaling, went to chiropractors, filled out extensive health surveys, researched symptoms on my own, tried all the alternative healing therapies I felt comfortable with. I found out about Kinesiology, EMDR, Tapping Therapy, physical therapy, and more. All of these health practices helped, and there were some that helped more.

The Secret I Learned

But here was something, not realizing its significance at first, that really helped me turn my life around. That secret that was so elusive to me was the way I was thinking, the way I believed, the way I acted. I realized that health was intricately tied to my thinking patterns.

My failures, and my successes depended on my healthy thinking. Even though I am not where I want to be, I can now eat everything that I had avoided for years. So, my story goes on. I was able to help my sons, my daughter and in part my mom and dad catch on to the healing process and find healing by themselves. This is a story in process, and only the tip of the story.

I am writing this post as an introduction, a preview of the health journey that I am still on, still healing and still avoiding illness. That is important in this season of great concern for health and living.

It is really a catching process – this healing. I hope to be able to point you in a direction to help you learn to heal, so please share your health journey with me, so we can learn from your experiences. I love reading other articles that point to the truth that what you think about yourself matters and affect your health. *

*I love reading articles from WebMD who confirm that what you think matters in terms of health. Try reading this short article: 10 Motivational Tips to Keep You Healthy (webmd.com)

Debbie