Healing Is a Matter of Time — and of Opportunity
“Healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimes also a matter of opportunity.”
— Hippocrates (c. 400 B.C.)
The first time I read this line, my attention caught on the word opportunity. It’s a curious word to use about healing. We all understand that healing takes time—bones knit, tissues rebuild, inflammation subsides. But opportunity? That implies something more than the simple passage of time. It suggests that healing also depends on conditions being right, on circumstances that allow the body’s innate wisdom to do its work.
When Hippocrates wrote those words, he was referring to kairos—the Greek term for the “right moment.” In other words, healing happens when timing, readiness, and environment all align. That is as true today as it was 2,000 years ago.
Time is the body’s language
Every cell in your body speaks in the language of time. There’s a rhythm to growth, repair, digestion, and detoxification. The problem is, our modern culture runs on a different clock—one that values speed, convenience, and instant results. We want to feel better now.
But nature doesn’t work that way. True healing is rarely linear. It ebbs and flows. It asks for patience, trust, and often a little faith in the process. When we rush recovery, we interfere with that rhythm. Healing still requires time—but as Hippocrates reminds us, time alone is not always enough.
Opportunity is what opens the door
What creates the opportunity for healing? Sometimes it’s as simple as rest—a quiet weekend, a good night’s sleep, or permission to stop pushing for a while. Other times, it’s nutrition, giving the body the building blocks it needs through whole, living foods rather than empty calories.
Opportunity might mean removing interference—toxic overload, chronic stress, or a lifestyle habit that continually strains the system. It might mean care—the right adjustment, the right supplement, the right person guiding you.
I often see patients who say, “I’m doing everything right, but I’m not healing.” In many cases, the missing piece isn’t more time; it’s the right conditions. Once we identify and correct what’s blocking their body’s efforts, healing resumes—sometimes dramatically.
A story from practice
A woman I’ll call S. came to me years ago with fatigue, pain, and digestive troubles that had lingered for months. She had “waited it out” for plenty of time—hoping rest alone would fix it. But the opportunity for healing didn’t come until she changed her diet, addressed a few nutrient deficiencies, and began gentle chiropractic care to restore balance to her nervous system.
Within weeks, her energy began returning. It wasn’t magic; it was simply her body seizing the opportunity it had been missing.
Creating your own opportunity
You can’t rush time, but you can create opportunity:
Eat foods that heal. Choose what supports cellular repair, not what adds inflammation.
Rest and recuperate. Sleep is the original medicine.
Move daily. Circulation is how the body delivers healing.
Clear obstacles. That might mean reducing toxins, addressing emotional stress, or changing a habit that drains your energy.
Seek wise guidance. Sometimes opportunity appears as a caring practitioner who helps you see what you couldn’t on your own.
Healing happens when we create an environment that welcomes it.
A closing thought
We can’t always control when healing happens, but we can control how ready we are for it. Give your body both the time and the opportunity to do what it was designed to do.
After more than forty years in practice, I’ve seen this truth proven again and again:
When conditions are right, the body never forgets how to heal.