 One of the most impactful parts of seeing this one acupuncturist who had helped me more than pretty much anyone at that time was that each week he would kind of impart a different lesson. And it reminds me of this one Japanese physician that said, the highest level of physician is the physician who counsels the patient on how to live his or her life. And because I think most of our own illnesses are created by us, by the way we live, this is really, really, really important. Now in today's video, I want to share what was one of the bigger self healing lessons that has helped me personally. Hey, it's Alex Hein, author of the health book Master the Day. I've included a free download there below the video, which is five daily rituals that can potentially help you add 10 years to your life with Chinese medicine. You can check it out the first link in the description there below. You know, in my own journey, trying to recover from lifelong digestive problems that I went to all the specialists for conventionally a GI specialist nutritionist, dietitian, general practitioner, etc. None of them got me any results, even though they're all good people trying their best. And I promise myself that after seeing the GI specialist, I would never go to a physician again for digestive problems. And I haven't. They effectively don't really exist anymore, thanks to Chinese medicine. But the thing that was so interesting to me is how a chronic illness can completely affect the way you live your life. It can be the thing that stops your life to a standstill. You know, some people have such deep depression or anxiety or insomnia that that is basically career ending. It's life ending, like you're too alive to die. But on some level too crippled daily to truly live. And it's this awful in between state that people exist in, where they don't feel well enough to truly function, even, even function on some level with some illnesses. And there are many, many people enduring chronic illnesses like this. And it's in those moments where you've battled with something for years, you've struggled to find a way forward, you can't figure out how to actually just get it under control, whether it is depression and anxiety, a digestive problem, maybe something even more serious. And it can be easy to beat yourself up in those moments because you're saying, I'm a mother, I have a job, like I have to support, provide for my kids, I need to be there for my husband, I need to deliver at my job to get paid, I can't be this state. And this resistance crops up, where we feel guilty, because we can't execute at the level we want, because we have responsibilities to do. But it's in those moments where this one adage that has helped me a lot may be helpful. And the saying is simply that, basically, if you can't run, then walk. And if you can't walk, then crawl. But never stop. And in my own health journey, if you want to call it that, this was really helpful, because I wondered why I was eating healthier than anyone I saw, and yet no one else had any digestive problems. Why I was doing all these health practices, and yet no one else had insomnia, people who are clearly abusing themselves really badly. And this kind of victimization kept cropping up and cropping up, you know, why is this happening to me? And this is derailing my life, it's affecting my relationships and my work life and all of this stuff. And it was really, really discouraging to me. And so I reminded myself that, listen, for some unknown period of time, it could be a month, it could be a year, it could be five years, I'm going to have to acknowledge I'm going to have to move slower than I want. I'm it's not an option. It's not a discussion. It's not up for debate. If I don't want to resist this and I want to heal as quickly as possible, I'm going to have to move slower and accept the consequences. So being in a medical school doing my doctorate and working to put myself through school and having other health problems come up, it made me realize I'm going to have to be more patient with myself and accept that that's just how I'm going to be for a certain period of time. So on the days I feel really good, I can sprint. On the days where I feel moderately good, I'll walk. And on the days where I can barely function because I slept four hours and I'm having digestive stuff, then I crawl. And I accept that I'm going to do the best I can for as long as possible. And I'm not going to fight and resist it. This is where I am right now for an unknown period of time. So I'm going to have to make these long term adjustments to my life until I feel better again. And if you're type A or used to being the rock for other people or for yourself or used to being the achiever, it is not going to be an easy pill to swallow, aka your ego. It's not going to be easy, but it is that exact factor that is the factor that leads to self healing. Because in all aspects of chronic illness, there is some measure of resistance. Because nobody wants that. Nobody signed up for that. Nobody wants that handicap in their daily life. But you have to do your best in that moment to promise yourself, I'm going to listen to this message, the symptoms, as long as it takes. It could be a month, could be years. I'm going to make the necessary life adjustments by not resisting it. And I'm going to accept that if I can't run, I'll walk. If I can't walk, I'll crawl. But I'm never going to stop. And if you do that, I'm confident you'll find a way to recover from most of the things you may be struggling with. And you'll be able to do it in a way that's less painful internally. And it's less damaging to your life because you're not fighting it, wishing it would be some other way or hoping it could be some other way. Because it's not. It is how it is right now. So I hope that helps. This is a really important mindset for me. As I got more frustrated, as time went on and I was changing all these variables and I wasn't seeing the results I wanted, you have to trust that it's going to take an unknown period of time and make peace with that unknown, even though it's not fun and it's not what you want to hear. So I hope that helps. Don't forget, the first link below is for a free download, five daily rituals that can possibly help you add 10 years to your life with traditional Chinese medicine. And then check out my last related videos right over there.