Learning Never Ceases: Life Is About Learning!

It was mid-October of 2025. In about one month, I’d turn 83 years old, still involved in my life–happy to be in it, and being relevant to my world.

Stepping out of my RV (my home) one day, I felt something in the back of my leg tear. It felt like something in my leg was shredding. Incredibly painful!

“What’s wrong with your foot?” Looking down, I saw that my right foot looked three times the size of my left foot.

“I hurt it. Something tore. I don’t really know what happened.”

Mary, one of the people who lived in the three-generational household behind which I live, parked in an open field along with two or three other RVs, had stopped by to say “good morning.” Nurse Mary, who until recently had been working for one of California’s largest hospital systems, said flatly, “You need compression socks. I’ll go get an Ace bandage and find some compression socks for you.”

As she turned to leave, another resident from the household arrived, “What happened to your foot?” she inquired with alarm. I explained to her about the tearing. This woman, though young, had been dealing with serious medical issues for most of her life. “I’d use red light therapy,” she stated flatly. “Do you want me to do a search and find a system that’s right for you to use with this injury?” The system she advised me to get was delivered just two days later, and the swelling started going down, almost totally gone within three days.

My son told me, “Mom, you have to go see Lino.” Lino is an amazing physical therapist whose office is an hour away. “I think you’ve torn your Achilles tendon,” Lino said. You need to go to your doctor for images to check the extent of the injury. “But I’m planning to go to Canada to celebrate my birthday with my friend of 56 years who is also having a birthday!” I protested. “Do you think I can still go?”

“You’ll need to wear boots that support the back of your leg, not walk long distances, change the way you go up and down stairs, and continue what you’re already doing—then you can go if you do all of this while you’re on your trip.” Lino refunded my money, telling me he’d done no treatment on me—a blessing.

At home, I made appointments for an X-ray and an ultrasound, then called my friend in Canada. “I’ll come to the US,” she offered. But she had recently started taking medicine to help regulate her heart. “My medical issues are mechanical,” I pronounced. “Yours are internal. Being available for care with your doctors and insurance is more important for you.

Choosing Learning Over Fear

“I’m waiting for an appointment for surgery. So I have a choice: I can sit at home and wait for the appointment to be scheduled, or I can come to Canada and wait with you while having fun together! I’m coming to you.” I scheduled a wheelchair with the airlines and packed my bags.

Today, as I write this, it is exactly 10 years since the day my husband, a neurosurgeon, died. Neurosurgeons are “top of the heap” in the medical world. He always loved being “first” and expected the world to wait until he was ready to do whatever was to be done. Riding in the wheelchair, I chuckled, remembering how he loved to be pushed through airports in a wheelchair, because he got to go to the head of the line! And now I was doing that myself.

Nine days in British Columbia, Canada. The birthday gift I received….tickets to “MJ,” a touring Broadway musical about Michael Jackson that was full of color and great singing and dancing. My friend’s gift from me was a 90-minute massage—and not having anything else to do, I also had a massage!

Ferry travel between the mainland and Vancouver Island, High Tea at the Empress Hotel in Victoria, and a Quonset hut stay on the open Pacific Ocean beach. Gracious and caring meals and visits with members of my friend’s very large family, museum and art gallery visits, and a 5-star dining experience at the Wickaninnish Inn in Tofino.

All accompanied by constant, hearty laughter!

My friend and I, both Sagittarius, laughed our way through the entire trip. “Independence” and “freedom” are vital for us both, yet we’re both helpers. She kept attempting to overprotect me as I dealt with my injured leg. I kept insisting on helping her as she did things she preferred to do on her own. “Back Off!” became our most-often repeated message to one another, bringing gales of laughter!

Curiously, almost from the beginning, my leg stopped hurting. I continued the twice-daily red-light treatment and wearing my boots. I was able to do my share of driving without difficulties. I was glad I had decided to come for the visit.

And did I mention that the Airline upgraded me to First Class for three of the four legs of my trip? That I had an engaging conversation with a seatmate, a California rice and almond farmer? I learned all about rice growing—and also something he told me that I had never known. At the end of World War II, Japan agreed (as part of the end-of-war concessions) to buy a consistent number of tons of rice grown in the US—every year. This farmer was selling his sushi-grade rice to Japan, the end-of-war concession still in effect 80 years later!

Before I left California, I submitted my request for a visit with the surgeon. Upon my return, I was told I first had to make an appointment with a nurse practitioner and then see the surgeon. “It’s taking so long for me to be seen by the surgeon,” I joked (and complained) “that my leg is going to be healed by the time I get to the surgeon!”

And so it was.

When I finally got to the medical offices, the examination showed that the very large and painful tear over the back of my leg had healed itself sufficiently that I was ordered to physical therapy. Surgery was no longer required!

So why do I share this story with you now?

Because I want to talk about how much unnecessary and painful work so many of us are doing in our lives, when we don’t have to!

What was I able to do that I’d like for you, too—things I didn’t do for many difficult years, that now are a consistent part of my past?

1. I took responsibility. “Responsibility” is one of the 7 Pillars of Self-Esteem—one of the four “main” pillars. It tells us that we are each responsible for our own lives, our experiences, the people we draw to us, and upon what we focus our attention. I took responsibility for asking for what I wanted, going to medical people I chose, for making decisions that fit me, for doing daily actions that led to healing.
2. I asked for help—and allowed myself to receive it! Something I learned not to do as a child, instead allowing myself to accept whatever came my way, without identifying what was important to me, or what I needed. This time, when help was offered spontaneously, I accepted it, but only if it was right for me.
3. I focused on what I wanted to “become,” not on what I needed to “overcome.” I wanted to become a person who would happily celebrate her birthday (literally), “step into life,” and focus on being happy and enthusiastic (naturally, not forced).
4. I made the most of what I did have, instead of focusing on what might block me.
5. I stayed connected to myself, working with what felt right for me. I listened to my intuitive self. I also dropped ego, accepting wheelchair transport in airports without shame, embarrassment, or bravado (things to which I have been prone in the past).
6. I worked with emotions that arose in me—feelings of disappointment, irritation, hopelessness, helplessness, anger. These were allowed to arise inside of me, then ushered through so their energy could dissipate. Accepting that these impediments could be temporary and focusing on working with them instead of allowing them to stop me, allowed me to find ways of moving forward with my life despite the injury.
7. I sought out the irony, the humor, and the joy that were possible, despite the “glitch”! After working to realign with emotions for half a century, I recognized that the injury was not a “disaster,” but an opportunity to learn!

As I wrote in my book, “Emotions in Motion: Mastering Life’s Built-in Navigation System,” I share with you what “I” experienced and did because I recognize my life as my “learning laboratory.” Your life is also your “learning laboratory.” We’re all here on earth as learners, having come to experience, discover, learn and grow.

Healing Through Alignment, Not Force

In my life (which was very hard in the beginning, requiring me to work out of the “difficult,” then open up “flow”), I’ve been privileged to learn perspectives, skills and actions I can use, every day, to make life easier. It’s what I now am sharing with others in the world who are ready to “realign” their lives with how life actually is constructed, instead of continuing to work harder than they need to, “calming” themselves instead of “healing” themselves by addressing “cause.”  This allows us to end repetitive issues and move on to other things. Being unexpectedly upgraded on the airlines is an example of what can happen when the emotions (energy) of our life flow toward what can happen, instead of remaining focused on “the problem.”

Today is the best day for you to start. Join me.

1. Start listening to and believing yourself—trust that you know what is best for you.
2. Begin learning from your experiences, listening to what the emotions that arise in you as part of your experiences are attempting to tell you. This opens us to learn, grow, and progress with greater ease.
3. Accept that learning and changing are part of how things are set up on this earth. Embrace change, seek out learning, stand behind yourself, and face life fully.
4. Above all, LOVE yourself. The way a loving parent loves their little child. Realize that you were born worthy, full of love, and joyous—that these are your birthright!

What we have inside of us gets reflected to us from outside!

No one can take away the love that you give to yourself, and that love attracts more love to you from outside of you.

Learning can be challenging. But it doesn’t have to be burdensome. Make curiosity a primary focus in your daily life. “Experiment” (for as little as 3 days) with new behavior patterns to see if they are a fit for you. Drop expectations….roll with what life brings you, recognizing your new opportunities to grow by healing old wounds and embracing improved responses to your daily life.

Enjoy your amazing trip through life!

And so it is….

Connect with Ilene Dillon on The Wellness Universe, and follow her on LinkedIn and Instagram.

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Ilene Dillon, MSW, developer of Emotional Realignment, is a Transformation Specialist who helps people understand and use emotions as they are designed to work for us, resolving personal challenges at their root and consciously designing life as they want it to be. With more than 50 years as a psychotherapist, marriage and family counselor, coach, and master teacher, Ilene brings decades of experience guiding individuals toward emotional clarity, healing, and transformation. She is a global speaker, podcast host and guest, and a multiple Amazon International and National #1 bestselling author, including Emotions in Motion: Mastering Life’s Built-in Navigation System, End Manipulation: Stop Being Jerked Around by Toxic, Energy-Draining People, and contributor to The Wellness Universe Guide to Complete Self-Care (Volumes 1, 2 and 6). Traveling full-time in her RV, Ilene writes, teaches, and speaks across North America, sharing practical tools that empower people to reclaim their power, navigate change, and create the life they truly want.

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