It was so hard to understand. Why? What was going on? Piece by piece, my body was falling apart. Complications from “simple” medical procedures weren’t so simple. First the eyes, then the leg, return to the eyes, then the low back, throw in a few infections, back to the eyes, and then an unrelenting return to the spine. Each day, new conditions manifested. Nobody should have to tolerate such pain.
I knew many of my greatest life lessons stemmed from pain. That’s how I learned tolerance, balance, and perspective. Pushing through pain helped me seek and discover what lies deep below the surface of awareness. However, none of that philosophizing helped me now.
My training as a psychologist was based on science—cold hard data. So when my common sense told me to seek assistance from the medical community, I did. But there was something else going on, and I needed answers to these unrelenting issues that have bombarded my physical body for the past four months. I had not found the answers through conventional means; I needed the messengers—those friends I met in 2013.
In August 2013, I had a spontaneous opening to the world of the nonphysical during an early-morning commute. Since that time, I’ve learned to step into the world of spirit for answers. Why didn’t I do this earlier? Good question: I wish I knew the answer.
I needed relief. In addition to the excruciating low back pain that recurred a few weeks after I thought it had healed, I was dealing with a post-cataract surgery condition that resulted in extreme sensitivity to light. It had brought me back to the ophthalmologist four times in the past month, but the symptoms persisted. By 9:00 each morning, I close my hurricane shutters to prevent any sunlight from entering my home.
A few days ago, I sat in silence intending to discover the truth of these physical symptoms that had ravished my body. Within moments, the answers came in the form of a vision. I saw a large, deeply embedded splinter inch its way toward the surface. Every microscopic movement caused ripples of pain as it wormed its way through tissue, nerves, and blood vessels.
This vision gave me a new perspective. The splinter’s freedom resulted in pain, but this was not the pain of disease or injury. No, it was the pain of release, the pain of letting go, the pain of eliminating old wounds.
A deep understanding swept through me, and I realized this splinter represented ancient energy—perhaps from ancestors or past lives. I understood the part that I played, and that changed everything.
I was no longer the victim, the human who was dealing with these physical conditions. No, I was much more than that. I represented progression, evolution, the passing of the torch. I was the one who could release these karmic debts. Yes, there is pain, but knowing it’s the pain of survival, the pain of healing, the pain of growth—makes all the difference.
I finally understand that my pain is a symptom, not of disease, but of deep healing. Understanding washed over me and I took a deep breath. As these splinters—yes, I’ve been told there are others—leave, they make way for newer energies. They lighten my body to allow more nonphysical energy to enter. This is part of the evolution of my soul. A different point of view can make all the difference in the world, and I feel honored to have a grander perspective.
The next morning, my low back felt better, and for the first time in four months, I was able to tolerate sunlight. Although I’m not pain-free, understanding the genesis of the pain has brought me a fresh perspective. I now know these aches are not only a symptom of recovery but also of discovery. Knowledge is power, and this new information has permitted me to embrace the truth behind the adage of no pain, no gain. My new understanding allows me to walk a little lighter, breathe a little deeper, and smile throughout my day.
- Biography
- Books
In ten minutes, my life changed forever. My comfortable six decades of living became unrecognizable. Change brings different perspectives, and I soon discovered I questioned everything I knew, or thought I knew, about life.
Before that August morning, I epitomized normalcy—others might have called my life boring. I went to work each day, came home, read a book, and talked on the phone or sat in front of some sort of electronic screen. My life revolved around my work and my children. In 1987, at the age of thirty-five, my husband died, and I was left to raise my son and daughter by myself. Both are now married with children of their own. Phillip works in the music industry and lives in Nashville, Tennessee, and Cassie lives just a few miles away from me in Naples, Florida. As I look back on my life then, nothing appeared out of the ordinary—not in the way I dressed and spoke, or in my habits, work, friendships, or thoughts. As a psychologist, I differentiated normal from abnormal, and my life represented nothing but the commonplace.
On August 28, 2013, a brief experience changed everything. The foundation of my belief system cracked. I had to suspend my assumptions about the world to make room for different truths. As a result, I careened off life’s comfortable, and perhaps mundane, path. I now view the universe quite differently. Looking back, my life before that ten-minute experience seems as if it belonged to someone else.
● The Reluctant Messenger: Tales from Beyond Belief – Order Now
● The Reluctant Messenger Returns: An Unexpected Adventure Into the Angelic Realm – Order Now
The Reluctant Messenger book series leads the reader through a doorway into another dimension that exists simultaneously with what most people would describe as reality. Author Candice Sanderson is a psychologist whose training taught her to engage her world by the physical senses, but that all changed on morning when she began to receive messages from other realms of existence. Follow this ordinary person’s extraordinary journey into the unknown through her books, The Reluctant Messenger: Tales from Beyond Belief and The Reluctant Messenger Returns: An Unexpected Adventure Into the Angelic Realm.
The Reluctant Messenger: Tales from Beyond Belief
The Reluctant Messenger chronicles the spiritual journey of Candice M. Sanderson, a psychologist who inadvertently veered off of life’s comfortable path when she began to receive messages from other realms of existence. Her extraordinary journey into the unknown began early one morning on her commute to work.
As a psychologist, her training had taught her to measure her surroundings by the five physical senses. It something could not be heard, seen, felt, smelled, or tasted, it did not exit. This early-morning commute changed everything. These communications were too strong to ignore, and the clinically-trained psychologist had to work through doubt, fear, and her own professional judgment to acknowledge these messages.
Though reluctant, Candice became a messenger, bringing news of a verifiable spiritual dimension. She learned truths about the fluid nature of time and how near-death experiences could alter timelines. Ascended masters and beings from the angelic realms shared both universal and personal messages of love and hope. Messages from star beings and other galactic entities communicated to her about energy grids that protected our Earth. She learned of the very nature of our existence.
Thanks for this fascinating insight into your pain issues Candace. Have had a similar experience when I confronted my fear of pain about three years ago. It had stemmed from my childhood I suspect and needed dealt with. As a medium and obe traveller I had long lost any fear of death, but pain, well, different story. The large bladder stone, not discovered for a couple of months, had irritated my prostate, and as guys my age suffer that a lot, it was assumed to be the issue. Eventually they spied the “enormous bladder stone” and surgery removed it. But the intervening three months were exceeding trying, endless sporadic pain that tried more than my patience.
Thanks for the reply, Gordon. The vision allowed me reframe the pain. Seeing it as part of a healing process diminished its impact—allowed me space to breathe. 💜
I have some splinters of my own coming to the surface right now too. ♥︎ ♥︎ ♥︎
Well, hang tight, my friend. Once I received messages about the cause of the pain, the symptoms started diminishing. Phew! I’m now able to keep my hurricane shutters open all day. Instead of using 6 to 12 eye drops a day in each eye, I’m down to one drop in one eye. I’m on day five–pretty good since this has been ongoing since late December. Light at the end of the tunnel, and it’s no longer blinding.
That’s so incredible and wonderful to hear! Losing your eyesight would be especially hard to deal with it seems to me. I bet you won’t want to leave the sunshine when you can be fully in it. Soon you’ll be at the beach and Florida beaches are gorgeous! My parents used to live in Panama City, FL. Beautiful!
Thanks for sharing I feel for you. Been thru a lot with health problems over the years, sometimes feeling like this life is over, but really it’s strngenened me pain wise, I know in the end that all is well, we learn to accept life and seek healing on our own, albeit it slowly. God Speed to you.
Thank you, Ric. Such wise words: learning to accept life and seek healing on our own. That is so true. Our incarnation in Earth School 101 is the perfect place for learning lessons and preparing ourselves for what’s to come. One day at a time, one hour at a time–whatever it takes. Learning to have a different perspective, living with the beauty that surrounds us, not allowing our physical discomforts to detract from our true purpose in life: to love.