As nerve-wracking as the stock market can seem at times, I’ve noticed some unexpected parallels between it and the healing process in Nutritional Therapy!
“How could this be?” you might be asking. The stock market and Nutritional Therapy? Sounds crazy, I know, but let me explain.
The stock market is inherently about “maximizing gains and minimizing losses”during up and down cycles, whereas Nutritional Therapy is about restoring the body’s natural healthy balance. While this seems to put the two in very different categories, there is an element of human psychology that makes them quite similar in practice. Also, both the human body and the stock market are built on almost incalculably complex and dynamic relationships.
So let’s break down this comparison in simple terms:
To find success in investing (and I’m no expert, but anyone can learn this), there are a handful of general “rules” or behaviors that must be followed.
First, a plan is needed to reach a specific goal, such as “I want to make x dollars on investment A, and after researching company B, I think I can achieve that in y days/months/years with my seed investment of z dollars”. It’s not that complicated.
Next, rules are needed in order to maximize the growth of the investment and minimize its potential losses, such as what point to buy or sell.
It is also necessary to be able to withstand occasional dips and swings of market volatility, and to weather some gut-wrenching moments as calmly as possible.
Then patience is required to stay invested long enough for the initial principal to grow and compound over time, and it must be watched and tended to make sure it stays on its intended trajectory.
As the investment unfolds in the market, plans may need to be adjusted or restructured as the conditions of the market change.
All unforeseen events aside, this strategy is likely to yield a tidy profit in the end!
Key Points in the Healing Process
There are also several key points in the healing process I want to emphasize that are oddly similar to these investing basics. They help to remind us that lasting health is the result of a long-term commitment. It does not happen automatically.
First, it is necessary to recognize and be willing to change factors that contribute to declining health and symptoms of illness (such as daily habits, beliefs, food choices, stress levels, etc.)
Second, an attainable, realistic, short-term goal must be set that can be built upon in the longer term. For example, improving digestion to eliminate symptoms of leaky gut. Sometimes this step requires some help to make it clear enough to be put into practice.
Next, guidelines and “rules” must be implemented to support and reinforce new habits that contribute to sustained health on a daily basis. This might include tracking how much water you drink in a day, keeping a food journal to track digestive effects, or sticking to a reasonable bedtime every night.
During the process, the body will change as it gains energy and nutrients to do its work. There will be ups and downs, and it is not always pleasant, such as when stored toxins are finally released. So you also need to have a willingness to experience some discomfort along the way, for hours, days, even weeks or months at a time until the body can clear the old blockage or compromised tissue and replace it with a new healthier version.
It is also necessary to stay curious and patient long enough for the healing process to do its work. As the old saying goes, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” Healing requires constant attention and adjustment as the needs of the body change. Learning the signs of these changing needs is also a skill that develops gradually.
So the whole process requires TIME to unfold. This means time in the broad sense of months and years for the body to make its slow turn back to health. But it also means MAKING time for the habits and behaviors that will “maximize the gains and minimize the losses”. Being too busy is not enough of a reason not to care for your precious body that makes all things in life possible (even if less than desired!).
Two of my favorite quotes about time:
““Time is a created thing; to say you have no time means you really don’t want to.”
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And
““Do you know that the busiest person has the largest amount of time?” ”
After sticking with these points over time, the process gradually builds the capacity of your body-mind-spirit to heal and experience a greater sense of wholeness, completion, and purpose.
Not bad!
So put them together and decide for yourself how much the healing journey and the stock market resemble each other. But you may find, if you look closely, that a lot of other aspects of life also make use of these same steps!
Be well, and may all of your health and financial investments bear fruit and multiply!