It may sound crazy, but we actually do have several advantages that the saints did not.
They Have Already Shown The Way
The saints were on their own. They had to navigate the path with no guide or understanding. They had nothing but faith to carry them through their hardships.
Don’t underestimate faith. It may be the strongest tool we have to get through when times get really tough. But faith doesn’t have to be a religious thing. After reading about the saints, you should at least have faith in the fact that someone else was able to overcome issues similar, if not worse, than our own.
Although we may not care to follow their paths, the lives of the saints can at least give us guidance. How can we follow their example? Is there anything that worked for them that might work for us?
The saints didn’t just set examples for us, they shared what they learned and tried to show the way to others. Saint Teresa and Saint John of the Cross even wrote directions! If we want to change our lives, there is no greater proof of what is possible than the examples and teachings of the saints.
We Have Tools They Never Had
The saints in this book lived hundreds of years ago. Back then, there was no research into how the brain functions or how various factors contributed to their conditions. Science has come a long way in understanding what is happening and what we can do to manage our condition.
The knowledge that mankind has gained gives us an incredible advantage. Modern medicine has figured out so much that it would seem like a miracle to anyone from even 100 years ago. Through brain research, genetics, modern psychology, and the synthesis of knowledge from cultures across the globe, we stand at the crossroads of a new paradigm of mental health. I believe it is one that will change mental illness into an advantage for everyone. As we learn more about how the mind operates, we will begin to make advancements that will change the world.
The most recent advancements in medication are an advantage that we might take for granted. Our generation has a very powerful arsenal in medications that have been developed in the last 20 years. These drugs can give us control over the extremes of our mood and behavior. Used properly, they can keep us from suffering from our condition.
The understanding of psychology has created therapies that are helping millions of people lessen the pain and develop skills. A professional therapist is a major advantage over toughing it out in a cave.
Technology has produced tools that are amazing. From simple tools like light therapy to make up for seasonal depression, to biofeedback that helps us become more aware, we have tools that can make a huge difference in our lives.
There are so many more tools that it would become a laundry list just to mention them all. Suffice it to say that we have a major advantage over the saints because of the knowledge to which we have access.
We Don’t Have To Suffer To Succeed
There are plenty of saints that got there without living the extreme lives of those in this book. Many have made their goal without the suffering. When you study the lives of saints, you will find that there are as many paths to get there as there are saints. Suffering is not a prerequisite. I used the examples in this book to demonstrate that it is possible no matter how bad we feel.
We can use our condition as an opportunity to follow in their footsteps. We can learn from their experiences and follow their advice. Beginning now, you can combine their advice with the help of your team and your own hard work to change yourself. A great therapist can help us to gain the insights without the need to go to such extremes.
We Don’t Have To Be Depressed Again
When you get to the point that you can safely look back, you can learn from your past conditions. I can remember past depressions as if they are happening right now. You can too. Many of us have already been to states comparable to those of the saints. We can learn just as well from the safety of a stable condition as we can from going there again.
The same lessons are in our memory as in our future. Once we learn the lessons, the future episodes will have less pain because of our change in perception. We may even find that they never happen again, or at least not with the same intensity.
Long before we get to sainthood, we develop understanding that lessens the pain. The saints in this book all talked about having the same experiences as before, but seeing them in a completely different way. If you look back at your own life, you can see what once seemed impossibly painful is not really that hard anymore. Imagine looking back on your worst episodes with the understanding that Saint Teresa developed.
Our Condition Demands Introspection And Change
The potential to learn from our pain is the same advantage the saints had, but when you begin to see the opportunity, you will find that this is our advantage over everyone else. “Normal” people can go about the rest of their lives pretending everything is fine; we cannot. We are faced with a condition that grabs our attention and will kill us if we do not take action and turn it into our advantage.
You can see it as a curse, or choose to see it as an advantage. Seeing it as a curse will consign you to a life of hell that may be cut short; seeing it as an advantage can give you the insight to use every tool at your disposal to turn your life into the potential that you have. The choice is yours.
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