1. Wellness professionals, personal growth enthusiasts, people of all walks of life committed to living a balanced and prosperous life - Thank you for your contribution by being a special part of this network. I want to extend a message of gratitude for each of you - whether you contribute with comments on my blog posts, by sending me personalized emails, or simply enjoy these quasi-monthly newsletters, your involvement is greatly appreciated .  Since my last newsletter, there has been a sharp increase in the number of subscribers and I thank you once again for helping me as I grow the message and audience for this free resource!

2. As you know, I am continually striving to provide enhanced content for this website.  Approximately 85% of my readership comes from new google search queries, a significant portion of them regarding 'Wellness Coaching'.  Please send me an email and let me know what would be of most value to you the reader.  If you are new to this newsletter and are unfamiliar with my areas of expertise, read through my articles i-grow.net: The Conscious Growth of Prosperity and Balance, The Six Components of Whole Person Wellness, and 10 Steps to Success.  Feel free to send me an email any time with questions as well.   

NEW ARTICLES AND PODCASTS

Here's the latest podcast and articles released to The Personal Growth Network. Please post questions you have on the blog!

• Learning to Meditate through Exercise
• Book Review – The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment
• Book Review – Healing Anxiety Naturally
• Is Self Help turning into Self Improvement?
• Book Review – Focus on the Good Stuff
• Personal Insights Blog #1 – Have an Attitude of Gratitude
• Book Review – Learn to Meditate
• How Much Does a Wellness Coach Make? How much does one Cost?
• The Lenten Sacrafice – Leveraging Faith for Optimal Wellness
• An Alternative Approach Towards Anesthetizing Pain

I want relief and I want it now!  

That's not actually a proclamation that I am making in this moment, but rather a philosophy that our society seems to have embraced in the past century.  Is that quick relief mentality really leading to a better life?  As more and more people reach to the medicine cabinet (or their favorite habbit) for conditions ranging from headaches to backaches to depression and anxiety disorders, it becomes interesting to ask if we are really doing ourselves any favors.  Am I mindfully using the options available to me, or am I creating a dependency on a network of foreign aids to help me get through life?

Now, I am clearly not suggesting that upon reading this newsletter you toss all your drugs in the garbage, rather I am suggesting that you consider something more primal in nature.  Are these aids being used consciously and most significantly, are they creating a long term net positive benefit for you as a physical and spiritual person?  

Before the days of advanced medicine, people experienced pain and grew from that experience. They had no other option.  People experienced physical pain, emotional pain, the suffering of loss, the tension of anxiety, the persistance of a chronic condition.  They knew how bad it could get because they had no way to hide from it. In living through it, they had the option to use it as a growth experience, or as an excuse to retreat in life.  

Today, we have another road we can follow - we can take medication, we can hide by participating in any of the myriad of distractions today's world offers us, we can turn to drugs/alcohol  to dull our senses temporarily so that we don't need to experience any of these kinds of pain to their fullest.  In many cases it is appropriate.  But in others, it stunts our growth and can exacerbate the issue.  It closes our eyes to the problem and treats only the symptom.  I hear often of cases of parents with ADHD children on ritalin that were cured of their hyperactivity disorder not by the ritalin, but rather by going on a strict and prescribed diet which cuts out processed sugars and refined carbohydrates from their diet.  I've never heard of a child with a naturally occuring ritalin deficit.  However ritalin may be the quickest route to anesthetizing pain.  Furthermore the parent might not know of any other options if they could possibly exist.  This is just one of many examples we can draw from in life.  

If you are familiar with my background, you know that I very well may not be here today without the marvels of modern medicine. So believe me, I am a huge supporter of the miracles that our doctors and drug manufacturers have achieved and continue to achieve.  Life is better with the medical options we've got today without doubt.  This does not, however, mean that our life will be better just because we elect to use them, or that life is better when we choose to hide from what can inherently be  the experience of life!  .  

Ask yourself the following:

• In what ways am I masking pain in my life (whether it be drugs, alcohol, frivolous relationships, being a workaholic...)
• Do I unconsciously pop a pill or draw upon my crutch for every ache and pain that I experience (of the physical or emotional nature)?
• Are the medications I take a long term solution or a short term fix?  Do I even know?
• How might I go about alleviating the underlying cause of the problem I am experiencing?
• What am I avoiding, and what would be my worst potential experience if I faced it?
  

Be Well

Written by
Doug Nau; MBA, Certified Life Coach
www.coachforwellness.com, www.i-grow.net
Professional Life/Wellness Coach, Speaker & Consultant