Chronic Illness Q&A with Dr. B.

Dr. Larry Berkelhammer

This question & answer column is for people living with chronic health challenges and their family caregivers, who want to learn to increase the odds of improving their health by learning to live with mastery & wellbeing.

I invite you to post your questions in the comments box below. When I get a certain number of related questions, I pick one that covers them all and I answer that one.

I post to this blog three times per week. Monday posts are relevant published articles. Wednesday posts are interviews—mostly video. Friday posts consist of questions about living better with chronic health challenges, and my answers to them. Here is today’s question:

THIS WEEK’S QUESTION:  You make it sound (10/4/13 post) as if self-mastery is about nothing more than finding solutions for our problems or challenges in life.

ANSWER:  Although it is certainly important to seek solutions to the various challenges we face in life, in the case of immutable circumstances, the best solution is to accept what we are powerless to change.

However, the most important message I want to impart to you is that the process of seeking a solution is itself a practice in life mastery. In life, it’s not about always reaching our original goal—it’s about how we play the game. Sometimes, just knowing we did our best, and that we did everything possible, we are then able to develop acceptance for an undesirable situation.

That type of acceptance is a form of self-mastery.

This website is offered as a free public service, supplying information that has been found helpful to certain people living with chronic health challenges. No treatment is offered on this website. The advice is general, and may or may not apply to your individual situation, and is not a substitute for psychotherapy or medical treatment.

What questions do you have about how to live better with chronic health challenges that are related to the relationship between states of mind and health? Just scroll down and type your question in the comment box. I will post a reply to your comment, but your question may not appear in this column.