Quick Inputs and Bigger Thoughts to Reflect on
There are many different types of cancer. Even with the same diagnosis the cancer experience can be quite different. It is like there are different bugs causing each person’s cancer. Likewise, our attitude and lifestyle also cause splits in our experience. This is why I am cautious and even hesitant to say too much about my cancer. Today I would like to pull back the curtain on how I process my situation. This process is a steady evolution from self-reflections, meeting with mentors and the great talks I have with my wife and family. I believe this process has made a huge difference in my experience of cancer. I also know that my story is not your story. Enjoy what works for you!
Quick Inputs:
That which we don’t change, we choose. The properly inspired imagination is the workshop of the Divine.
My ‘nation of images’ is filled with hope and wonder. How about yours?
Bigger Thoughts to Reflect:
Leaders, Sensei and Counselors
Basketball coaches, Little League, Scout Leaders, school teachers – everyone learns from others. Learning to managing our mind and emotions also requires outside guidance. On my bicycle at 15, I sought out guidance to make my adolescence less confusing. My secret meetings with counselors would be a huge novella.
Cancer is no different. Here is a question I would pose to my audiences in the ‘80’s and 90’s:
When did psychiatry delete consciousness, God/the Divine, food, movement, stillness, breathing, inspired ideals, reincarnation, recreation, the connectivity of fellowship and love from its treatment plan?
I don’t know either. However, the re-introduction of any or all of these could only help. I would gently sneak them back in. Without upsetting the apple cart of the normalcy of despair, I usually start with:
• Breathing and sitting still. Then, journaling and self-reflection.
• Since the root word of emotion is motion, it is time to move and play/dance/sing (recreation).
• This is followed by wholesome food (input) and fantastic bowel movements (output). Interesting, huh.
• The brain does not think. A well-nourished protected brain (think: the nutrients that make the most helpful neurotransmitters and think: bike helmets, etc.) is essential to transform the mind’s input into action. The most educated person with a traumatic brain injury no longer has a brain that can process and share mental input.
• Now it would be time for fellowship and inspired ideals. With inspired ideals and world views, it is now time for consciousness to enter the picture. It is this sense of ‘Self’-identity that allows us to separate our identity from the contents of our mind. Using the breath to quiet our mental chatter, we can start to identify ourselves as observers/witnesses of our mind and emotions.
This one degree of separation is enough to herald in a whole new realization that we are not our mind. We have a mind but that is a tiny part of our entire existence.
• Once the mind is put in its place, we can objectively view it for what it is and most importantly, for what it is not.
We learn to doubt our doubts.
The initial touchstone of consciousness swiftly starts to widen our view and reveals a connection with a greater essence – ‘with the better angels of our nature’ – Abraham Lincoln, March 4, 1861.
• At this point we may ask, “Where does our sense of self come from? From power, possessions, progeny and pride? Or can we go deeper? Does it come directly from our essence? If so, where and what is that?”
That could be a future journal entry.
Turning ‘Shelf-ish’ as a Teenager
When the folks from whom I sought their counsel became less available, my parents gently brought new books into my life. Books swung open doors that thrilled my teenage mind. Problem solving became the realm of Hardy Boys and Sherlock Holmes. Inspiration was found on the fictional doorsteps of Mark Twain, Bears of Blue River (Charles Major) and Follow My Leader (James B Garfield). Guidance came from Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich as well as the biographies of Thomas Edison, Samuel Morris, Clara Barton and more.
‘Life by bookshelf’ was a great period, my shelf-ish years continue with some of those books still on my shelf today. And, most likely, these books would be meaningful to teens today. The point is that the world of literature can be a tremendous resource.
My “ought oh!!” pilot
My mind’s auto-pilot rehearses and relives the past by simply not paying attention to the present moment. When my present is packed full of past clutter, then the past is everywhere.
Why is that important?
Because it means my immune system is following the same beliefs and activities that did not support my health and protect me from whatever subtle forces may have led to my cancer.
Since nothing is ever only in my mind; it is also never only in my body.
The body mind connection is constant and can be a huge tool in my cure.
I am so grateful that my “ought oh!!” pilot keeps me in the present.
My Story is Not Your Story — to be continued
Enjoy, Terri and Blair
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Fear is selfish.
Courage is selfless.