Rush to the Restroom, but Nothing Comes Out

An old Cantonese lady told me how she had suffered terribly for many years. She had to rush to rest room very often, but little or nothing came out. After I conducted the TCM examination for her, I told her not to worry, I would help her. She asked, “Are you going to help me purge?” I said, “No.” “Why?” she replied. I asked her, “You don’t eat much, do you?” She said, “No. I have no appetite to eat.” Then I asked, “Why purge then?” She responded, “I am really suffering, please help me.” I comforted her, “I have a program with two sections, one to help reorganize the body’s ability and the other one to help like cash to assist your problem.” She doubted and asked, “What does the ‘cash’ mean?” I said, “It will directly on your intestines for make them move.” After taking the herbal tea, she improved. She often sighed, “Too much misfortune in life.” I comforted her and said, “To avoid mishaps, activate compassion towards people and animals.”

When she was much improved, she asked me, “What really happened to me? I said, “Probably in past years you worked so hard and worried too much. This combination of work and worry consumed your energy. The worrying damaged your lungs, which in TCM is the upper river of your body. When the upper river has a problem, then the lower river, which in TCM is your large intestine, gets affected.” I added, “If you are not working too hard, and you have a happy family, your body can probably replace the energy.” She fixed her gaze on me for a long time; she seemed to be recalling her past. She said, “Worrying damages the lungs…this is the TCM theory, or your experience?” I replied, “Both.” She went on, “If I just work hard, my body can compensate?” I replied, “With certain limits.” She kept on going, “How can I not worry too much?” I said, “Why worry that much when you don’t even know what will happen tomorrow?” But she still did not quite understand. I added, “You worry, and the days pass by. If you don’t worry, still, the days pass by. Of what possible use, then, is so much worry?” She laughed and finally understood.