Early in my recovery I had many thinking errors, or mental actions based on a false belief system. I had a thinking dichotomy that reflected an "either or" proposition, an "If this then that" codification and a black or white opposition. A mind mostly grounded in defensive mechanisms.
When I had the realization of my condition, that a name could be assigned, I felt an immense relief. But then it hit me that nothing had changed at all! I expected this awareness would have a greater impact than it did. What I did find in this new perception, a deep profoundness and discernment which had escaped me before, I finally found myself to be no longer alone.
I thought with finally learning what I had, or what was wrong with me (PTSD), it would be more helpful than it actually was. In the back of my mind I believed I was literally crazy until I learned about my malady. I had the thought that by knowing what was "wrong" with me, that in someway I would get better. I assumed this knowledge would somehow cause a shift in my thinking. I had expectations of my enlightenment to be more profound than it was, nothing changed except that I now knew more than I did before. My mind at this time could not fathom that I had become a member of the walking wounded.
It hit me just recently that; information can lead to knowledge but not necessarily to wisdom.
Information leads to knowledge, but that fact alone doesn't heal us. Knowledge is only the starting point.
ReplyDeleteInfo gives us the tools to understand what's wrong with us,
which gives us the tools to understand what we need to research for solutions,
which gives us the tools to find treatment,
which gives us the tools to self-empower the process of our healing and keep it going, even when it stalls and fails.
Without knowledge we cannot heal. Wisdom comes through the act of healing. We gain it once we're done. :)