My daughter is currently learning to crawl. The challenge for her is…that she can only go backwards. This gets her really frustrated and she almost always starts to cry.

When she has a goal or wants to get to her toy, she will get on all fours, stare at her toy and start moving. But because she can only go backwards, she sees it getting further and further away from her. This leads to crying. My daughter is also pretty determined as she doesn’t stop trying to go after her toy until something stops her (wall, chair, table, etc.).

Watching this can be hard at first but I know that in a matter of a few short weeks, she will figure out how to crawl forwards.

In life, as in crawling, sometimes, you need to go backwards before you can go forwards. Think back to some hard times in life. Did you ever feel like you were taking 2 steps forward and 3 steps back again?

Healing is also like this. Healing is not linear. We do not always get better and better. Sometimes we get worse before we get better, other times, we get better, then worse then better again.

The pain comes from having our expectations that differ from reality. Think about it for a minute. Let’s say you broke your arm, they tell you that you will be in a cast for 8 weeks and you will probably need to do exercises after. Most people accept this. However, if you expected to be out of the cast after 1 week, you would suffer for the next 7. The suffering comes from not knowing when things will end.

So, remember the next time that you feel you are having a setback that sometimes, you first need to go backwards before you can go forwards.

Need some help when you feel like you’re moving backwards in your healing? Give us a call 613-446-6060. Want more information about Dr. Amanda Chan or to subscribe to her weekly blogs? Visit www.neuro-optimization.com