“If we were meant to stay in one place, we’d have roots instead of feet.”
― Rachel Wolchin
On this episode, I go over a powerful story that deeply relates to you and your suffering. I am talking about Jonah and the Whale. I get into the beginning steps of anxiety recovery. Why things get WORSE if you keep to your old ways. Why the ADVENTURE of recovery is the only way out of suffering.
- Jonah was a prophet and God called upon him to go to this city (Nineveh) and to help these wicked people. The city was in chaos. This was a big responsibility thrown upon Jonah. Side note: meaning is found in the amount of responsibility you decide to burden.
- This responsibility made Jonah anxious. So he ran away from God in the opposite direction of this city (his calling). He climbed aboard a boat and headed for the seas. He ignored Gods call. Like the anxiety sufferer who ignores the signs coming from their body. The sensations and constant discomfort anxiety produces. If the anxiety sufferer truly has a dialogue with themselves, they would admit that things are NOT ok and that too much chaos has consumed them. Confronting the TRUTH is the beginning step to freedom. Jonah ignored the truth and turned his back on his higher calling.
- Now Jonah, being on this boat in the middle of the sea, gets swept up in a great storm sent by God. This signifies that if you ignore the truth, the more the storm around you will swallow you up. Like the anxiety sufferer who copes, their body slowly withers away. Eventually they get swallowed up in health concerns, dependencies, and hopelessness.
- Jonah then admits to the crew that it was him who upset God. So the crew throws Jonah overboard and the storm stops. This is the beginning of anxiety recovery. Once you admit to yourself the truth of your situation, that your way of being is not working, then you can move forward into the unknown. That is recovery. You CANNOT get better until you recognize that a power greater than you is what’s needed to get you out of the mess.
- Instead of drowning in the ocean, Jonah is swallowed by a whale sent by God. In the belly of this whale, Jonah finds the answers. In other words, you have to venture out of what you already know (pain and suffering) and plunge yourself into the unknown. It is only in the unknown where you find your potential. Your new empowered self. It is the unknown where you develop the skills you need to be the most self actualized independent strong person you can be. Making a new life for yourself means that you JUMP out of the sinking ship into the unknown. Yes, it is the fear of drowning that stops most people, BUT if you do not jump, then you will end up dead by the sinking ship (the old stressed out and dependent you). So might as well jump, right?
- For 3 days and nights, Jonah sat in the belly of the fish. During his time, he thought about himself and his plight (difficult decision). How did he wind up in so much chaos? So he examines his life with a fine toothed comb (so to speak). You cannot heal if you do not explore the depths of your unconscious. Your FAULTS. The behaviours that lead you to extreme chaos.
- Then, God has the fish throw up Jonah onto the shores of Nineveh. It is time for Jonah to take the next step. He was not equipped to handle this bigger responsibly until he looked inward and fixed the troubles and behaviours of his old self. Jonah then says to the people that the city would be destroyed in 40 days and that you should mend your ways before time is up so that you can attain heaven. The people believed Jonah and turned from their wickedness. God now has mercy and does not destroy the city.
Make sure you listen to the FULL episode below.