Superhealing: Engaging Your Mind, Body, and Spirit to Create Optimal Health and Well-Being (ARC) (25 page)

Faith brings a new dimension to the optimist-pessimist story. The

difference between faith and optimism is that when the glass is completely empty, the optimist is likely to become a pessimist, but those who have faith remain optimistic.

Faith brings to optimism the belief in an unwavering potential.

In the face of hopelessness, as in the case of the empty glass, faith transcends the limits of logic and ego. Faith emerges from within

your spirit and is reflective of a deeper belief and trust in the Divine.

Optimism, however, is more a function of your personality. Tradi-

tional y, faith is considered to be the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. It is our link to the greater mind, to the infinite field of possibilities, to the Divine. Faith in tomorrow, faith in the often unseen goodness that surrounds us, and faith in the Divine and in ourselves make life bearable in challenging times.

My experiences with people in the midst of confronting and cur-

ing a vast array of diseases made me aware of many universal traits and characteristics in those who experienced healing. They commonly share three qualities during the process: faith, fortitude, and forgiveness. We’ll explore faith and fortitude here and take a look into forgiveness in the next chapter.

Faith

The first questions I ask when someone approaches me for help

with a life-threatening condition such as cancer are “Do you want to live?” and “Why?” I also ask the relatives whether their loved one has lost the will to live.

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Because faith engenders hope, it is the fuel that gives life to the wil . It transcends belief and is reflective of an intuitive knowing of the truth that persists in the face of contradictory evidence. Faith transcends the realities of our existence. It cultivates hope and a spirit of renewal. It is a direct link to the field of infinite possibilities that dwel s in the spirit.

The capacity to express faith in various degrees is probably the

most common quality I have seen in patients who overcome and

heal from life-threatening illnesses. I believe that faith stimulates physiological changes that promote superhealing. Yet faith must be distinguished from false hope. Faith emerges from the spirit, whereas false hope resides in the ego.

Because faith is born of the spirit, it is accepting and does not

deny reality. It merely sees beyond it. Faith is a manifestation of the will to live. Many times during the years of my medical practice, I’ve had the privilege of treating patients who possessed unbelievable

amounts of faith in the midst of seemingly hopeless situations.

Fortitude

The ability to persevere in the face of significant adversity is fortitude’s key element. Fortitude is faith in action, and it arises from the spirit. Positive emotions fertilize and support the development of fortitude.

I am always amazed by the resilience and fortitude of children.

It seems the younger they are, the greater access they have to su-

perhealing. One of the most moving experiences I’ve ever had, with the patient who has affected me the most, occurred during my final days of medical school. Yolanda was a baby girl who has vibrantly

remained at the forefront of my memory.

Yolanda’s mother suddenly went into labor during the seventh

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month of pregnancy. At that time, the mid-1970s, there was no med-

ication to reverse the process. Before Yolanda was born, the obstetrician knew that the chances of her survival were nonexistent.

Yolanda was extremely premature, weighing less than two and a

half pounds. When she was born, she exhibited only a few signs of

life, indicating that she was in severe physical distress. Her heartbeat was barely noticeable, and her breathing consisted of shallow, erratic grunts. In light of her size and the fact that no baby as premature as she had ever survived, the attending obstetrician informed her parents that their baby girl had been born dead.

After the delivery, the staff followed routine procedures, notifying the pathology department that the baby’s body had to be picked up

for an autopsy. For hours, she remained all alone in that cold, dark room. But unbeknownst to anyone, little Yolanda was clinging to life, one gasp of air at a time.

When the technician arrived much later to collect her body, he

was shocked to discover a breathing baby! He notified the doctors

on call that evening in the hospital’s intensive care nursery. In light of her severe prematurity and extreme condition, the doctors made a decision not to vigorously resuscitate her or provide her with the care she desperately needed. The doctors were certain that she wouldn’t make it through that night, since several critical hours had lapsed between her birth and her arrival at the unit. During the night, she was given only minimal life support, oxygen through a hood instead of a respirator, and an IV instead of an arterial line that could have more easily monitored her condition.

The next morning, Yolanda was still alive and kicking, much to

the shock of the staff in the nursery. Since her vital signs had slightly improved and she had remained pretty stable throughout the night,

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parents, since they were still grieving her death.

The obstetrician who had delivered her and the pediatrician in

charge of the nursery visited her mother’s room that morning. To-

gether they told the parents that their little girl was alive by virtue of an act of God. The doctors also informed them that she would

receive the intensive medical care that she needed. But they also gave the parents very little realistic hope of her survival, warning them that she’d probably live no longer than a few more hours or days, at most. The doctors told the parents not to expect to ever take their baby home from the hospital.

Despite the physicians’ appropriate reservations, no holds were

barred from that moment forward. Yolanda was placed on complete

life support: a respirator, a heart monitor, an umbilical artery cath-eter, and the appropriate medication.

Throughout the first few weeks of her life, Yolanda was never

more than a breath away from death. Her vital signs were tenuous at best. One severe complication and crisis ensued after another, aris-ing with unbelievable regularity. Despite such extreme challenges, Yolanda simply refused to die. Over the weeks and months that followed, she very slowly began to improve, valiantly fighting off and surviving a succession of life-threatening conditions, from bleeding in her brain to intestinal obstruction requiring surgery, from a heart defect that wouldn’t resolve on its own to infection. She conquered several brain hemorrhages and brain-damaging jaundice, required

repeated blood transfusions, and incurred lung damage from her

prolonged exposure to high oxygen levels while she was on the ven-

tilator. Yolanda’s spirit never allowed death’s ever-present shadow to conquer her tiny body and indomitable will to live.

Her improvements slowly grew beyond the minute incremental

ones that initial y occurred. She began to gain more weight, strength-

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ening her reserves. She began to respond to her environment, smil-

ing at her parents and nurses, suckling and cooing, but at a much

slower pace compared to normal babies. Gradual y she started to

grasp her nurse’s fingers.

There was a moment of celebration in the nursery the day Yolan-

da held a small toy in her hand. The infections ceased, the internal bleeding in her brain stopped, and the transfusions were no longer necessary. And with great difficulty she was tenaciously weaned

from the respirator that had acted as her lungs for so many months.

I was privileged to be on call the Sunday afternoon Yolanda was

discharged from the hospital. After a six-month battle, she had defied and defeated the significant odds against her, as well as her doctors’ realistical y grim predictions, and she went home with her parents. It was the highlight of my years in medical school, a thrilling moment that will remain vividly implanted in my memory for the

rest of my life. It was touching, emotional, and uniquely rewarding to see that little girl face and overcome a seemingly infinite number of insurmountable obstacles in six months.

Yolanda has given me courage, faith, strength, and a profound

appreciation of how indomitable the human spirit truly is. It can

survive anything. In ny own moments of weakness, the memory of

Yolanda has come to me spontaneously. Sometimes I wonder where

she is and how life is treating her. Yolanda is just one of the patients who clearly demonstrated to me the powerful role that fortitude—

the will to live—plays in engaging superhealing.

Fortitude allows us to face life with confidence. It is a resilient determination that springs forth from our spirits, not from circumstances. It prevents us from succumbing to the tragic episodes of life and is the substance of the will to live.

CHAPTER 8

The Superhealing Power

of Love and Relationships

Love is the most powerful force in the world,

yet it is the humblest imaginable.

—Mahatma Gandhi

All the techniques and information I’ve shared with you

throughout the course of this book rest on the foundational real-

ity that superhealing comes from the Divine, which is expressed

through our essence, the spirit. And love is the primary source of the spirit, the creative substance from which all other aspects of the spirit flow. It is the most important force in the universe. There are no limitations to love, and after all other things have ended, love will remain, never ceasing. In short, love makes the world go around.

Love is the light that gives us life, and we are created in its image.

At the core of our being, where peace, joy, bliss, mercy, grace, and compassion abide, we are all essential y good, loving, and lovable.

That is true regardless of what we tell ourselves or what the rest of the world might tell us. Love is the source of meaning and inspiration.

It is the intelligence that allows us to rise above our existing patterns of thought and behavior to connect, to forgive, to be grateful, to be charitable, and to make choices beyond experiences that cause stress.

Love is the key ingredient to living life wel . Without our awareness and expression of it, our lives are but a shadow of what they could be.

We all need love, regardless of who we are and our position or status. The external substitutes for love—material possessions, money, 175

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power, position, prestige, and so forth—are poor replacements for

the rich gifts of the spirit. These things have their place, and you do not need to abandon them, but perhaps you should reconsider the

context in which you view them.

You might be wondering what love has to do with superhealing.

The answer is everything! At its core, superhealing is an expression of love. It’s been said that there are only two true emotions, love and fear, with variations therein. When we are not in a state of love, we’re dwelling in fear. Fear is what causes our distress and increases our likelihood of becoming il . Love can elevate our consciousness from where it currently resides to a place of healing and reformation. It’s the source of the miracles, magic, and wonder that give meaning

to life and liberate us from disease, despair, isolation, and rejection.

Modern medicine is, perhaps, final y beginning to recognize the role that love plays in our well-being. Babies die without it, children’s growth and development require it, and adults need it to enhance

their purpose and meaning in life.

In this chapter, I address self-love, which is activated by atten-

tion, awareness, and acceptance; the healing power of loving touch; how relationships are a central component of superhealing; and the health benefits of altruism, gratitude, and forgiveness. All these various expressions of love are important keys to superhealing.

SELF-LOVE AND COMPASSION

I believe that the most significant and important relationship we

have in our life is often overlooked. It’s the one we have with ourselves and the Divine that resides within us. Ultimately, superhealing is loving ourselves with total self-acceptance: being fine with who we are just the way we are. When we get that right, we are right with the world.

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Self-love is flexible, kind, giving, compassionate, and understanding. It is the basis for all the love we give to and share with others.

When we love ourselves, our minds, bodies, and spirits are in har-

mony and express a high-functioning physiology, both physical y

and emotional y.

Yet many of us were born into families that did not know how to

help us develop our awareness of all the love that dwel s inside us.

As children, we are often encouraged to become external y focused

and to disregard our internal messages, dialogue, and guidance. That leads to the fear and self-doubt that ultimately results in self-disregard. I also believe it is difficult to love ourselves in the vacuum created by not relating love to our spirituality.

How do we set that right? I’ve heard patients ask, “How do I begin to love myself? What do you mean? I feel so unworthy! I’ve known

how to love others, but not myself. Where do I start?”