Whether you are dealing with an antigen or a deteriorating situation that wants to take over your body, there are usually mitigating factors. A terminal diagnosis can certainly prompt a fatalistic mindset. However, it doesn’t necessarily have to be that way. As long as you are still breathing air and are decently lucid, you can still have a say in your outcome. What you think and what you believe can have as much effect on your disease as what your doctor prescribes. The body tends to follow what the mind sets out. If you think you will die soon, you may very well do so. If you think you can turn things around and are willing to do whatever you need to do to accomplish this, you may be able to turn it around or at least postpone the inevitable, perhaps for a very long time.
In his best-selling book Love, Medicine, and Miracles physician-author Bernie Siegel describes his many years of treating cancer and AIDS patients. What he learned from his many case histories was that the patients who had the best survival rates were the ones that did not blindly accept their prognoses, but took an active role in contesting them. He states that the difficult patients who did not always follow his advice had better results. After witnessing and being convinced of this, he began incorporating alternative forms of healing into his practice. He used various psychotherapy techniques to help his patients unwrap the emotional distress that was exacerbating their physical maladies. He now advocates that a healthy frame of mind supporting the immune system can help keep many serious conditions in check.
There are many possible reasons why we come down with a life-threatening disease or condition in the first place. It may be genetic predisposition, poor lifestyle decisions or habits, environmental hazards, or simply be being in the wrong place in the wrong time and picking up a dangerous bug. No matter the genesis of our plight, there are schools of thought that believe we can reverse much of the potential damage by facing our current situation and taking responsibility for our disease. While not a certain path to cure, putting the power of positive thinking into concrete action can produce far better outcomes than simply giving in to our challenging fate.
Personally, I know something about potentially “terminal” diagnoses. Back in 1986 when I tested positive for HIV/AIDS, I was advised by my doctor to get my affairs in order. 35 years later, my affairs are still not totally in place. More recently, in early 2018 an endoscopy disclosed that I had a small malignant tumor in the tail of my pancreas and the doctor recommended fairly invasive surgery. Another physician’s second opinion encouraged me to watch and wait, and so far I’ve kept this menacing situation at bay. Fortunately, through practicing much of what I advocate in these blogs I have avoided succumbing to either of these dreaded diseases by balancing conventional and alternative medicine practices with faith, determination, a healthy lifestyle, and a positive attitude.
Commitment to recovery and faith in our ability to heal can play as an important role as doctors, drugs, and medical therapies. A strongly focused optimistic mindset not only can improve the quality of your life, it can be your most powerful tool to restoring and maintaining your health.
(c)2020/2021 David Cat Cohen
DAVID CAT COHEN In Recovery blogs 