Have you ever wondered why people become ill? Or why is it necessary that God, the Universe or whatever Higher Power we call it, allows us to go through so much suffering? My ponderings over many years concerning suffering have lead me to believe that illness takes us to an altered state of consciousness whereby old blocked energy can be released more effectively.

Sickness releases energy at a cellular level which is a much deeper transformational experience than that in our normal life. It has been my experience through many visitations of the Ross River Virus over the past 15 years, that all the meditating I could have done would not have released nearly as much energy in my lungs and throat as a nice Spring bout of Ross River Virus.

Although I am an avid meditator and I firmly believe in the manifold benefits of regular meditation, the constant racking cough did things to my body that I couldn't accomplish by my own volition. After my last bout, I experienced another profound opening of my heart chakra. In endeavouring to accomplish these same changes, I would have given up on meditation or perhaps only meditated in a piecemeal fashion. An hour or so of meditation most days does not alter consciousness in the same dramatic way or with the same intensity as coping with illness or disability.

Physical illness causes us to become spiritually stronger and healthier by cleaning out energetic remnants of the past that have clung to our spiritual being. Not only is history holding onto us energetically, but we often willingly leave bits of our spirit back in the past. Or we think constantly about the future. We fragment ourselves to the past or a future that doesn't even exist yet.

Unfortunately illness is sometimes necessary for our spiritual evolution as people will find the best means available to stay in their comfort zone. We all wish to feel emotionally comfortable in every thing we do, all the time. Permanent emotional comfort without end is what we constantly seek, until boredom or something else especially illness, finally sets in and we are then forced to change.

Luxuriating too long in our comfort zone often means distraction from our spiritual path. We use various distraction strategies including enmeshment in families, relationships and my favorite, work. We will use anything imaginable including addiction, to remain unconsciously comfortable. This is where we do not effect real and lasting changes in our lives. Illness forces us to change at a cellular level as well as mentally, emotionally and spiritually. We could choose instead to retrieve all our energy from the past and the future. Just stating to ourselves as we wake each morning "I retrieve all my energy from the past and future" will have a profound effect on your life. If we made this choice a daily practice, we could ameliorate the effects of our illnesses.

In an ideal world perhaps we could possibly avoid them, as the need for illness wouldn't exist. This would allow us to spiritually vibrate at a much higher level and live more fully in the present. If we stubbornly refuse to change, "upstairs" will change the situation for us in some way where we will lose control, for example through illness. Balance is a Universal Law. Where we have been out of balance by adopting a certain viewpoint, we will then in some way be forced into the opposite energy.

If we overwork, we could become ill and then forced to rest. The universal pendulum continues its full swing through our lives. When we fail to pick up the challenge of voluntarily moving out of our comfort zone, that great universal healing life-force will force us into change whether we like it or not.

Illness is just one of many ways, "Upstairs" assists us to change and transform ourselves at all physical, emotional, mental and spiritual levels. Let's step in and make the daily choice to retrieve all our energy from the past and future and in the process we can turn our suffering into opportunity.

Rose Smith, BA, DRM, ATMS

About the Author

Rose Smith, BA, DRM, ATMS is a psychic entrepreneur with a background in counseling, healing and teaching. She is also the founder of Absolute Soul Secrets Master Psychics, an Australian network of professional telephone psychics. Visit www.absolutesoulsecrets.com for more information.