I love to read! This summer I chose a few novels for my vacation. One of them was, Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted by Suleika Jaouad.
This New York Times phenomenal bestseller, tells the story of 22-year-old Suleika, who is diagnosed with leukemia, and her journey navigating through the two kingdoms, the kingdom of the sick and the kingdom of the well.
It describes so well how challenging it was for her to navigate her illness and her relationships during that time, coming close to death, and later, coming to terms with life without cancer. How we can waver back-and-forth between the two kingdoms, how impossible it is for someone who has never had a life-threatening illness to understand what someone with cancer is going through.
Suleika says that we move back-and-forth through the kingdom of the sick and the kingdom of the well. There is no exact line between the two, I agree and I don't really believe in perfect health.
One of my close friends was recently diagnosed with stage four metastatic breast cancer and in talking to her about this, this is what she had to say.
“What I’ve learned, is that when you are in the kingdom of the sick, the health you have cultivated in your life — be it mental, spiritual, or physical, serves you. It helps with healing — which isn’t necessarily about curing but about becoming more whole in whatever form possible.”
100% True!
I think the secret is to spend some time each day taking care of our own mental, spiritual, or physical well-being.
So that when you do enter the kingdom of the sick, you have the strength to move more quickly and easily back into being whole in whatever form that might look like in the kingdom of the well.
If you've been struggling in the kingdom of the sick and need some help, let’s schedule a 20 minute call where we can chat about what you can do to strengthen your body, mind and spirit.
You can fill out the intake form and schedule a time that works best for you right
here.
xo
Sue-Anne
P.S. I highly recommend this book, it's amazing, let me know how you like it if you read it!
