Finding Purpose in a Difficult Physical Condition

How would you feel if someone told you that you are facing health challenges because you wanted to? You may shrug it off saying it’s nonsense, or you may get offended feeling that you’re definitely not to blame for your condition. You can perhaps think of various factors that contributed to your illness. It might be the excessive amount of work that led to an unhealthy lifestyle, or a difficult relationship at home that triggered emotional stress. If you are suffering from a disease of unknown cause or born with a disability, the worst thing you want to hear may be that you are responsible for your own condition.

This may well be your initial reaction when you read Healing from Within: Life-Changing Keys to Calm, Spiritual, and Healthy Living by Ryuho Okawa. But if you peruse it with an open mind, you will begin to see his important and powerful messages throughout the book. One of them is that there is always a lesson we can learn from a difficult experience and often a purpose behind it. Probably the best example of this is the life of Hellen Keller. She contracted an unknown illness at the age of 19 months, which left her both deaf and blind. She found hope and courage even from this painful and difficult experience and came to realize her purpose in life, which was to encourage and offer hope to those who are struggling difficult challenges in life. The following message exemplifies her virtue:

I dare say that those who are in adverse circumstances are the chosen ones. God expects them to overcome the adversity so that they will become a great encouragement to others. So do not lament your own misfortunes. You were born into this world to shine your divine glory.
Ryuho Okawa, Invitation to Happiness

It was Hellen Keller’s earnest endeavor to overcome adversities that made her a beacon of hope for the world. And her disabilities helped her fulfill her purpose in this world.

Finding purpose in a difficult challenge is the key to improving our well-being, whether physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual. Even if we were born with a disability, develop a disorder, or suffer from an incurable disease, there is still a lot we can do on our end. Some of the illnesses and diseases that have no apparent causes can be part of the life lessons we decided to learn through the course of our life.

Healing from Within: Life-Changing Keys to Calm, Spiritual, and Healthy Living, Okawa offers encouraging messages to those who are struggling with difficult physical conditions:

The role you’re playing in this life is a part of your ongoing spiritual training. So instead of believing that you will be happy if you can cure your physical disability, turn your attention to how to live the best life you possibly can within the circumstances you are in now.
This is all part of the workbook assigned specifically to you, so try to solve the problems in this lifetime. You will be given the answers to the problems in your workbook when you return to the other world.
Ryuho Okawa, Healing from Within

This perspective will give us the strength to overcome not only health issues, but any difficult challenges we face in life. I hope that this book will help many people find a way to solve their issues and lead a purposeful life.