100 Perks of Having Cancer: Plus 100 Health Tips for Surviving It (74 page)

the day cancer came into my life (completely uninvited, I might add).

People mark time by major life-altering events, such as when you get

married, have children, or move to a new city. Cancer became my new way

of marking time. It is as if a line was drawn through my life and everything

became referenced to the cancer. When did I buy my Kia? February 2011

B.C. (before cancer). When did my boyfriend Shawn and I take our first

I 309 J

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vacation together? October 2012 A.D.

(after diagnosis).

You may be thinking that life A.D.

cannot possibly be as fulfilling as life

B.C. But that is not necessarily the case.

I believe that happiness and a positive

attitude are choices that people make

every day. After I had gone through

the grieving process, which took about

six months, I was faced with a choice.

I could choose to focus on the pain,

suffering, and utter devastation that is

cancer. There is no denying that few

things in life can rival a cancer diag -

nosis for the award of “worst thing

that could ever happen to you.” Can-

cer brings with it the terror of facing

an untimely death; uncomfortable and

Ben’s sixth birthday, May 2011 A.D.

pain ful treatments and procedures; loss

of identity; coming to grips with a new body image; strained relationships;

and financial setbacks or ruin. That is the reality of cancer.

But for some “fortunate” cancer patients, the diagnosis brings with it

another reality. When faced with their mortality, some people come to real-

ize what is really important in life, and then go on to make life-altering

changes. I am one of those fortunate people. Having cancer forced me to

evaluate my life and make some major changes. I ended some relationships

that were not serving me well and put more of my energy into those that

were. I identified work environments that were toxic to my spirit and

embraced a change in my career. I started to feed my body nutritious foods

and made exercise, prayer, and meditation an important part of my day. As

ironic as it may sound, the year I battled cancer was the hardest but also

one of the happiest times of my life.

Would I give up my cancer experience? Absolutely, in a heartbeat! How-

ever, I would not want to part with the changes that cancer forced me to

make in my life. Some say that a positive attitude alone cannot cure cancer.

Perk #74: Cancer Gave Me a New Way of Marking Time

311

I agree. However, a positive attitude combined with positive action will give

me the best chances of surviving this disease. If that means I have to make

changes to my diet, I
will
make changes to my diet. If that means I have to

exercise more, I
will
exercise more. If that means I have to stop drinking

wine . . . well, let’s not get carried away here. Wine is a plant-based beverage

after all!

You did not have a choice in getting cancer, but you

do have a choice in the attitude you bring to it.

HEALTH TIP #74

Change Your Attitude Through Affirmations

T
he definition of the word
affirmation
is: the declaration that something

is true.

Can you really make something true simply by saying it? Many believe

that the answer is yes. Affirmations work great to change your beliefs and

attitudes about yourself, but they don’t always work on things outside of

yourself. (For example, I’ve been saying, “My house is clean” for a week now

and it doesn’t seem to be working.)

When it comes to your brain, affirmations can be very powerful. We

are often victims of “self-bullying” and negative affirmations that we aren’t

even aware of. How often have you done something forgetful and said to

yourself, “You are always forgetting things! You are so stupid!” If someone

else said these things to you, I hope you would defend your intelligence.

But we let ourselves get away with it, don’t we? Those negative thoughts

and affirmations when repeated over time can actually make you more for-

getful and “stupid.”

Luckily, it works the other way too. We can use affirmations, or positive

messages to ourselves, to help improve our attitudes and feelings about

ourselves. Constant verbal suggestions, over time, can shape the way

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you think and, in turn, the way you respond to things and your decision-

making. This power of suggestion works not only on your brain but also

on your body.

Dr. Loretta J. Standley, FIAMA (www.drstandley.com), is a holistic healer,

both physical and spiritual, with many areas of expertise. She is a firm

believer and witness to the power of affirmations. She states:

Our spoken word is our “command.” When we speak, we are giving

instructions on the invisible plane. It is the same as filling out a requisi-

tion, placing a food order or staking a claim on a piece of property. The

purpose of affirmations is not about rattling them off as fast as you can

so that maybe you will luck out and things will finally go right for you.

The purpose of affirmations is to train your mind to think differently and

to train your mind to speak differently, thereby being very clear with the

Universe what it is you desire.

The “conscious mind” is the Sergeant and the “subconscious mind” is

the Soldier. The Sergeant directs, commands and orders the Soldier. Affir-

mations play the role of the Sergeant, so you are literally training the

mind to think and react differently. When the Sergeant barks out a com-

mand, the Soldier instantly reacts to the command. In a nutshell—make

certain you are barking out to the Universe the right orders!

Dr. Standley states that you can train your mind to help your body to

be healthy. Controlling your words will control your mind. The conscious

mind “acts,” and the subconscious mind “reacts.”

You can start reciting your positive health affirmations today, but accord-

ing to Dr. Standley, it takes forty days to impress your desire upon the sub-

conscious mind. You must recite the affirmations forty times a day for forty

days in a row. Dr. Standley suggests putting forty beads or coins in a cup

and taking one out each time an affirmation is recited so you won’t have

to think about counting them. If you miss a day in the string of forty days,

you must start from the beginning. But not before you think about what it

was that distracted you, and express gratitude for realizing it.

You should feel the statement you are making and concentrate on the

words. Choose one or more of the following affirmations based on what

you feel best fits your needs:

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313

●
God gave me a healthy body and, in gratitude, I take good care of myself.

●
I eat healthy, nutritious, and digestible food every day.

●
I have a healthy spirit, mind, and body.

●
I drink large amounts of thirst-quenching water every day.

●
I have a healthy heart and strong set of lungs.

●
My strong body has fully recovered and healed.

●
I AM living a long and healthy life.

●
I AM miraculously cured by the touch of God’s divine hand.

Since “I AM” is the name God gave when Moses asked what he should

call Him, beginning your affirmation with “I AM” calls the conscience mind

to embrace the God or divine presence within. “The repetition of an affir-

mation beginning with ‘I AM’ strengthens and supports clarity,” says Dr.

Standley.

My dad also believed in affirmations. When I was sick and just getting

over my double mastectomy, he asked me to look in the mirror every day

and say out loud, “Every day in every way I’m getting stronger and stronger.”

Yeah, I felt silly doing it, but hey, it was my dad asking me to do this, and

I was not about to disobey. The first few times I tried it, I couldn’t look in

the mirror. I felt like I was lying to myself. I just muttered it quickly and

continued on with my day. Eventually, after several weeks, I was able to look

myself in the eye, because it was starting to come true. Pretty soon it was

not only easy to say, it was fun . . . like a self-directed pep talk.

Later on, when I was using guided imagery during chemo, I would listen

to Belleruth Naparstek’s CD. A portion of the General Wellness CD contained

affirmations. Belleruth’s voice is totally relaxing, and it’s easy to focus on what

she is saying. According to her, for some, affirmations sometimes work better

than guided imagery techniques. She asks you to listen to the affirmation,

take it in, and repeat it if you wish. Some of Belleruth’s affirmations are:

●
I know that when I forgive myself and others for errors of the past, I help

my body to be well.

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100 Perks of Having Cancer

●
I call upon my intention to maintain good health and a strong sense of

well-being. I engage my powerful will to assist my body in doing this.

●
When I eat, I instruct my body to use whatever it needs and to reject what-

ever is unhealthy to me. I sense my body following these instructions.

●
More and more I can let go of worrying about things I cannot control

and focus on my own inner peacefulness.

I strongly recommend looking into using a CD to help with affirma-

tions. For some, it helps you to get started, so that you can then take over

the affirmations yourself when you are ready.

Affirmations are easy, free, and it’s one of those “nothing-to-lose”

actions. You can also use them to make improvements, not only in general

wellness, but in other areas such as money, love, success, or weight loss.

Go to www.BelleruthNaparstek.com. Belleruth has wonderful guided

imagery and affirmation CDs to help with lots of issues. There’s even one

to help with chemo and radiation.

Try affirmations to boost the

healing power of your brain.