Heal Thyself

“These then are my last words to you. Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.”

-- William James

I had planned to write about today's topic after a good deal more discussion of positive thinking examples, but I have not been able to focus on anything else this week. You might say I wanted to "ease" into the subject of healing because it seems to be the hardest concept to accept and actually put into practice. But for some reason thoughts about healing have over-shadowed everything else I had in mind. I will start with a personal story.

At the age of 39 I discovered a tumor. It was a kind of cancer that typically occurs in men between 35 and 40 called seminoma. I had surgery followed by radiation therapy, and the treatment was a complete success. Fortunately it is one of the most curable forms of cancer if caught at an early stage.  That was over 30 years ago.

Moving to the present, I recently had a conversation with our younger daughter who brought up her recollection of that experience and the impact it had on the family, particularly her as a young girl of 10. She recalled how bad I looked while going through the treatments and said that she had been afraid that something would happen to me.   

That was the first I had heard about the emotional impact that experience had on her. It brought tears to my eyes to think of what she must have suffered herself. So I was naturally curious if her older sister had the same recollections of that time. When I asked her she said that she had never feared I was going to die, and she had been certain I would be OK. When I asked how she could have been so sure, her answer absolutely floored me. "Don't you remember?" she asked. Then she related a story of how I had told her I was making pictures in my head of a tiny Pacman gobbling up any cancer left in my body.  I had forgotten about my using creative visualization* which I first read about in a book of that title by Andrew Wiehl. 

Since that time I have come to the conclusion that you need to be careful about phrasing what you wish for. In her wonderful book, "The Secret", Rhonda Byrne says that you can attract more of what you don't want if that's what you think about. For example, thinking "I do not have cancer, I do not have cancer" attracts more cancer. What you want to attract is better health. I would go so far as to say that your mind knows when you are lying to yourself. Also, it does not make sense to have the notion that you are thinking positively while using negative words. Any word that has the contraction of "not" is negative just as the word "not" itself is negative. the word "cancer" is about as negative as you can get. So what I suggest is that you rephrase your thinking into something positive. For example -

• "I enjoy life so much, and I am healthy in every way."
• "I can sense that I am getting better each and every day."
• "I feel myself healing"

And don't forget to be thankful for what you have and to express your thanks when you are finished.
I am not suggesting that if you suffer from an illness of any kind that you substitute these methods for conventional medical care.  However, putting your mind to the task of healing has been demonstrated time and time again to at least improve and sometimes turn around the course of a serious illness. At the very least it could help to speed your recovery.  It is also true that many doctors and medical practitioners agree that a patient's mental attitude often plays a part in whether they heal quickly or not.  So what I am suggesting is that if your doctor does not condone or believe in patients helping themselves, then put your hand over your back pocket or clutch your pocketbook and leave.  And once you have found a compatible doctor, work on your thinking with determination and the vengeance of a warrior.  (I read that someplace.  Sounds like a lot of vengeance to me.)

* From Wikipedia:

Creative visualization refers to the practice of seeking to affect the outer world via changing one's thoughts. Creative Visualization is the basic technique underlying positive thinking and is frequently used by athletes to enhance their performance. Creative visualization is the technique of using one's imagination to visualize specific behaviors or events occurring in one's life.