When your doctor says the dreaded words that you only have weeks, months, or years to live, you can walk sheepishly out of his or her office and resign yourself to the assessment or you can gather up your inner strength and challenge it. Medical evidence and protocols may point to a grim situation for most patients in your situation, but certainly not all of them. When it comes to life-threatening diseases there are many deteriorating factors, but there may also be quite a few mitigating factors. You might want to curl yourself into a ball and give up. Or you might resort to using substances or addictive behaviors as a smokescreen to avoid dealing with your disease. Neither of these knee-jerk solutions will do anything to improve your condition. In fact, they may only hasten the inevitable, if that is how you choose to see it.
Some of us harbor a death wish, and this may be just the off-ramp we’re seeking. However, many more of us would prefer to continue along our relatively normal and hopefully fulfilling lives for as long as we can. For those of us with a passion for living, one of the most helpful attributes is our attitude. Do we want to succumb to our illness or do we want to heal? If you really want to turn your condition around, you need to make survival your first priority. In my case, over 35 years ago, unlike most of the countless seemingly hopeless AIDS patients around me in the LA area, I resolved to combat my “terminal” diagnosis and do whatever it took to survive it. In other words, I became willing to heal.
I credit this willingness to see my condition improve every bit as much as the good medical care and appropriate drug regimens I received for my long-term turnaround. Without the commitment and discipline to stay on top of one’s health program, all the best medicine has to offer, whether with Western or alternative practitioners, can only go so far. It is often said that where the mind goes, the body will follow. This is far from a foolproof rule, but there is plenty of evidence that setting mental and emotional intentions can create a pathway to a better outcome.
As someone who has been involved in 12-step programs, one of the keys to recovery is being open, honest, and willing. This principle applies to overcoming health issues as well. Openness allows for things to improve. Being receptive to new ideas, new suggestions, and new strategies is key to overcoming a potential “terminal” illness. I know that some of us may be more successful at this than others. However, curling up into ball or partying our way into oblivion is not the answer. Allowing a space for healing can make what seems impossible possible.
(c) 2020/2021 David Cat Cohen
DAVID CAT COHEN In Recovery blogs 