How do we know when we need a quick fix for our well-being and when the time is right to look for long-term recovery solutions? 

Learning to trust yourself, knowing when a quick fix is enough and understanding when it is time to invest in solving the root cause of a problem is the ultimate goal of a healing journey. Sometimes that might be finding a way to soothe us in the short term. But when we have symptoms that repeat, we require long-term solutions. 

Symptoms might be ongoing stress that turns into anxiety or panic attacks that happen regularly on a weekly or daily basis. It might be depression and a lack of enthusiasm for anything in life that goes on for periods of more than a day or two at a time when nothing particularly woeful is happening. We might notice constant and dramatic mood swings that control and impact our relationships.

Life happens, and we all experience periods of turbulence, have problems to overcome and experience grief as life events unfold for us. It is normal to have ups and downs to have periods of struggle and periods of calm. When we are going through a normal. In challenging circumstances, we might look to quick-fix solutions to help us cope as we move through the situation. 

For example, we might have a new role at work we are adapting to, or there might be a conflict arising in one of our close relationships, or we might have just lost something or someone we cared about. These circumstances are short-term and event-specific. They require short-term soothing to manage the impact on our lives as we navigate through them. These short-term solutions soothe us as we process, adapt and then resolve the event's effect upon us. 

Short-term fixes can vary and support us day to day. What we need in one moment might be different to what we need in the next. We can recognise a short-term need often when the problem is new. We notice it feels complete as an event, and it is not connected to our past, and it directly relates to something happening to us right now. It's not related to something that happened a long time ago or an issue or pattern that keeps repeating. 

When symptoms occur more often and repeat themselves or we have been managing symptoms our entire lives, we are developing or have developed a pattern. The pattern is what causes long-term and harmful effects in our lives. If we are always seeking quick fixes for this type of problem, it is most likely that we are relying upon a coping strategy to exist and this will eventually lose its beneficial effect for us. This type of soothing for a long-term problem can lead to addictions or damaging habitual behaviours. 

It is helpful to begin observing and questioning ourselves. Pay attention to what we are doing, and how often we are doing it and become curious enough to ask ourselves why we are doing it. If the answer to those self-inquiries is related to a short-term, recent problem and we feel we can live without these solutions in our lives in the future, then it is most likely short term solutions are what we need. 

If we notice that what we are doing is linked to events that happened a long time ago, or if we feel we would not be able to stop the behaviour or give up the habit, it is most likely a long-term healing solution we need. 

When we notice this, we have a choice. It is important to still soothe the impact or problem we have in the short term by trying different techniques to help give us more and more choices. But if we keep soothing without looking at the long-term pattern it becomes avoidance, and more symptoms can emerge. We might then want to consider looking at our options for deeper healing. 

True recovery requires a deep dive into the root of the problem. It needs an investment of our time, energy and attention. It might require more drastic changes to your lifestyle or your choices concerning habits, work or relationships. This will depend on what you discover as you look for the cause of your problem. 

Often it can be a way of thinking we have that encourages us to avoid our emotions or it can be a reliance on these short-term supports to get us through life that needs to be healed. We will know when this is needed because we are deeply struggling emotionally or physically, we can't tolerate our lives or the situation any longer and we feel a strong need to find a solution. 

Whenever we notice what we are soothing and why we have begun an important part of our healing journey moving toward self-awareness and self-understanding. Each circumstance is different. Each person is different and each solution might be different for each of us. 

We will know when we are beginning to find healing when we can choose for ourselves how we respond. When we are not afraid of looking for long-term solutions and we are not ashamed of our short-term quick fixes. Both elements of healing are valid and important to the journey. 

Choosing and knowing how to respond will feel peaceful and empowering. We will intuitively know whether the solution we are trying is relevant or not. If we are choosing quick fixes when we need long-term healing it will feel fleeting, and insincere; we might feel low about it. If we are choosing a long-term healing solution or modality when all we need is a quick fix it will feel irrelevant, uninteresting and dull. 

As we become more aware in our recovery journey, our intuition flows more naturally, and we better understand what we need and when. This is a new phase of our healing journey, and a new balanced lifestyle focused on our peace and wellness can emerge.

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Watch this video Trusting Yourself is the Healing Journey from our YouTube channel.

To create a strategy for recovery that considers both short and long-term healing as you adjust your lifestyle towards wellness, I recommend the Recovery By Design Bundle.

You will access all our cpourses focsued on natural healing and recovery as well as our life design products.

As we begin to understand the power af aligning with our best vision for ourselves, it is important to correctly harness our energy. The Energetic Alignment for Recovery Masterclass explains how we can use our energy to improve our health and well-being.

If you are seeking short-term solutions to help you through life's changeable circumstances and you are not sure what quick fixes to use and when, our Quick Tips! Course will help.

You will be able to read the tips at a glance and intuitively choose what seems like the best response for you at the time, depending upon the circumstance. 

If you feel you need more support to find long-term healing solutions for problems in your life or symptoms you are currently managing with short-term solutions, browse our curriculum to see if we have other courses that may help. You might want to consider a one-to-one session or mentorship programme if you are seeking specialised support to solve a long-term problem in your life.