As I age, in subtle ways, my body is telling a story to which I do not wish to listen. This is just the mortal coil which creaks and groans with the settling of time and wear and tear of miles. Yet, I know that it is just a barrowed thing that I will shed at some point.

That is when the true experience begins.

As the song says, “We are eternal, this pain is an illusion”.

I have a good friend who has had many difficulties with the spinal issues in her neck. Additionally, my wife has had back issues which have led to pain in her hips and legs that she has to see a chiropractor for regularly to manage. I doubt that either of these ladies would say that the pain is an illusion.

I have been very lucky in that my “aging” has only recently started to show in subtle aches and pains. Motion and liquids (water which I do not drink enough of) typically help me manage my simple issues.

As with anything, outlook is the best remedy to many painful issues, physical or otherwise.

I know a number of men who have battled and survived cancer. In every case their outlook played a huge part in their recovery.

There are a number of good books that link both illness and recovery from illness to our mental state.

I am a huge believer in the concept of “mind over matter”. I think that great unused part of our brain is connected to the ether around us and when we are in a positive state of mind it is generating more and more positive around us. Unfortunately, that “creation” is happening no matter what state our mind is in. So if we are in a negative state we are just compounding the issue.

There have been a lot of articles on the Zero Point Field and test run that seem to confirm that thought can manipulate this field.

I am not going to get into that here (Google is your friend), but suffice it to say that this simply proves the concept that we have some ability to create our reality.

Even scripture points us to this simple truth;

Proverbs 23:7 King James Version

⁷ For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:

This concept does not preclude the fact that we must do the right things (eat right, stay in motion, rest), do our part to maintain our health and our mental state. However, it should make you seriously consider just how much our mental state effect and regulates our physical state.

The pain may not be an illusion but our response to it will determine its impact.

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” —Viktor Frankl

I absolutely love this quote. It speaks to so many aspects of how we can best manage in this life. Whether the stimulus is our bodies telling us that we need to take some action or in response to some outside action by another; In our response lies our growth and our freedom!

How awesome is our power in that simple statement!?

In our response lies our growth and freedom to be or do anything we can think, both for great good or great evil. Great positivity or great negativity.

I have experienced both from people and I think I can speak for us all when I say that it is the positive people I remember most. They are who we gravitate toward.

I would like to say that the greatest reward we can give those who are continually negative is our forgetfulness. Yet, they are the ones who need us most. Without our positive influence upon them what do they have to hope for?

Thus, creation from the ether around us is dependent upon our positive mental state for ourselves and those around us. Who, by being happy, has ever created sadness.