Even after all this time
The sun never says to the earth,
You owe me.
Look what happens with a love like that.
It lights the whole sky.
—From The Gift, Daniel Ladinsky

By Linda Martella-Whitsett and Alicia Whitsett

Everyone knows someone—or is someone—who is working through an illness, a loss, or a challenging life circumstance. In times like these, wholeness and healing become prevalent themes. Wholeness is often understood as a destination, while healing is often seen as a method to get from an unwanted condition to a desired goal. The presumption is that wholeness is something to be achieved, while healing is something you do to achieve it. Here we offer empowering perspectives on wholeness and healing as a framework for self-discovery and self-mastery.

Wholeness

Wholeness is the original and absolute “you”—the “you” that, in any moment, can know itself and feel itself. The “you” that is, in any moment, an integration of all that has ever been. The “you” that is complete, in that nothing about you can be missing or unfinished in this unique moment. The “you” that is a complex system of relationships that cannot exist without one another. The “you” that is ever-evolving pure potential and infinite possibility.

We can know wholeness as the integration of body, mind, and spirit, the building blocks of our humanity. But we also can recognize that we are more than just human. We are spiritual beings. Wholeness means that we are both human and divine.

Wholeness is the original and absolute you. It reaches beyond you, encompassing you, fueling you. The wholeness that you are exists within the whole—all of it, all of everything. It’s the web of connectivity, the field of infinite intelligence, the ocean of existence. It’s the seen and the unseen, the visible stemming from the invisible that you can sense and feel. When you have mystical experiences like angelic visions or visitations from departed ancestors, you are experiencing your interconnectedness with the whole. Everything is interconnected.

Wholeness is a mind-blowing concept! It’s big! It means there is only One Mind. Your consciousness exists within it, within One Mind. Whether or not you believe it, your thoughts contribute to and influence the world around you. Mostly, however, your thoughts contribute to and influence your own experience, as you have probably noticed.

Another important aspect of wholeness is that your life is unbreakable and indivisible. You cannot disconnect your mind from your body or your spirit. You cannot be split apart. Parts of you cannot be segregated and treated separately from the whole of you. You are not made up of separate pieces and parts; you are an integrated whole.

Wholeness is the reality of yourself that is independent of your circumstances. As such, it is not about your age, your physical condition, your feelings, your accomplishments, or your genetics. You can ignore, but never eradicate, your wholeness. You can feel as if you are falling apart, but your wholeness can never be broken.

Thriving with Wholeness

You are whole while traveling through varying conditions and the whole you arrive at a new present. In order to focus on the present “you,” you have to remain connected to the un-retouched and unencumbered you that predates your birth into humanity. Wholeness is the eternal spiritual you that is one with all that is—the original you that requires nothing in order to be whole. Neither ideal human parenting nor stress-free conditions are necessary for you to thrive. To thrive, you need only wholeness, which is the state of being, innate and irrepressible. You are wholeness itself.

It’s one thing to acknowledge your wholeness. It’s another, however, to feel whole in the midst of everyday human circumstances. As human beings, it makes sense for us to define our well-being based upon our circumstances. When times are good, we feel good. When times are tough, we sense that something is missing, wrong, or broken and we long to feel good again. Remember, however, that, because we are also spiritual beings, we can shift our awareness to our more subtle, but certain, identity. Knowledge of our wholeness needs to be reinforced by daily habits of thought and action. Healing is the action we take to claim our wholeness.

Healing

Healing is natural. Except in rare cases, everyone has experienced healing. When you suffer the slightest injury, even a paper cut to your finger, healing begins before you even start to feel the sting. Blood platelets gather at the site and form a clot to stop the bleeding. Your immune system directs specialized cells to search for and gobble up infection. A protective scab forms. These and many other autonomic processes occur without the need for conscious direction from you.

Healing is also natural when we have experienced mental, emotional, or spiritual suffering. Every worrisome pattern of thought eventually resolves, just as every condition is a temporary occurrence that will pass. Innate strengths and capacities arise to meet these needs, time after time. To heal is to restore, to resolve, to realize; essentially, healing is simply a return to health. But the meaning of health, usually defined as freedom from illness or injury, is actually realizing wholeness and choosing well-being in every aspect of life. Health, seen in this light, includes your body, your mind, your emotions, and your spiritual concerns.

We may pray for healing, expect healing from our healthcare professionals, attend healing seminars, enroll in support groups, or try the latest home remedies. Healing is thus a consuming quest we embark on when we feel in need of it. To comprehend the meaning of healing, and how healing happens, is indeed a quest in itself—one no doubt prompted by an urgent need. 

But remember: Our original nature is wholeness. We are not here to solve problems, learn lessons, endure hardships as proof of our worth, right wrongs, fix broken parts of ourselves, or pursue anything that smacks of reform. We are here to seek healing as a forward, onward, and upward rise in our awareness and, therefore, our capacity for well-being. We are here to choose to live as well as possible every day.

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Linda Martella-Whitsett and daughter Alicia Whitsett, are lifelong students of New Thought spirituality. Linda is Vice President of Unity’s prayer ministry, Silent Unity. Alicia is a Support Coordinator for individuals with developmental disabilities through the Department of Mental Health. For more see www.Ur-divine.com