Health can be one of our main reasons for stress. Maybe you have a disease that worries you, or you have to have an operation, or you are afraid of getting sick. In this article I will share with you 2 key principles and steps that can help you deal with this concern and regain peace in your life.
A few days before Christmas I was diagnosed with a thyroid tumor (which turned out to be benign) and I had to undergo surgery. I was able to verify that what in other times would have caused me a lot of fear and concern, I lived with tranquility and acceptance thanks to the personal work I have been doing and I would therefore like to share with you the principles and steps that helped me.
Principles to consider
1. Accept what is. Byron Katie author of the Bestseller "Loving What Is" tells us that being against reality and what we live is what really makes us suffer… When we oppose what we are living, we go to war with life, and this generates a lot of stress. We bother with life to no avail because there is no thought that can change what is already happening, and all we can do is feel worse. Accepting what is, does not mean that I stand idly by, it means that I do not have to act from anger and fear, I can do it from calm and acceptance and from that position it is very possible that I can see more clearly than actions drink. If I am diagnosed with an illness there are two ways of living it, one is with fear and stress the other with peace and acceptance. Which one do you choose?
2. Nothing happens to you but to you. Byron Katie goes further, not just talking about "accepting" reality, but "loving" it. And for this I invite you to ask yourself: “If God (or reality) is loving, kind and God governs everything, why could he be living this experience? Furthermore, why might it be in my best interest for God to make me live this experience?
Although in the case of diseases, it may be difficult for us to even think about asking ourselves this question, when we meditate on this and open our hearts we can discover beautiful surprises and the perfection of the moment… Byron Katie, in her book "Question your Mind, Change your Life" (English) tells us: “Do you think that your body will heal itself more efficiently when you are tense, afraid and you fight cancer as an enemy? Or when you love what is and become aware of all the ways that your life is really better because you have cancer, and from that point of calm you do everything you can to heal? There is nothing that fills more life than inner peace ”. In my case, the tumor brought me many positive things: many demonstrations of love, support and care from my family and friends, pleasant family breakfasts after visits to the hospital,hours of Reiki by volunteers who didn't even know me, colleagues who generously worked with me on an emotional level before the operation. I was able to question and break paradigms in my life. I could see how well the public medical system works, enjoy the care, kindness and good humor of the nurses during the operation, see that things are not as complicated or painful as my mind tells me, to be amazed by the anesthesia that prevents me from feeling pain, better understand other people who go through similar situations, live with less fear of getting sick and a long list of things…enjoy the care, kindness and good humor of the nurses during the operation, see that things are not as complicated or painful as my mind tells me, be amazed by the anesthesia that prevents me from feeling pain, better understand other people who go through situations similar, living with less fear of getting sick and a long list of things…enjoy the care, kindness and good humor of the nurses during the operation, see that things are not as complicated or painful as my mind tells me, be amazed by the anesthesia that prevents me from feeling pain, better understand other people who go through situations similar, living with less fear of getting sick and a long list of things…
Lester Levenson, creator of the Sedona method, radically changed his life and that of many others after the doctor gave him only two weeks to live. That led him to question his life and what had brought him to this point, not only completely reversed his illness but also discovered a great source of inner peace that he never abandoned and shared with thousands of people. Possibly you know cases in which diseases or crises have brought radical and positive changes to the lives of many people… And it is that when you look for the positive that each life experience brings you, you begin to verify that nothing happens to you but for you…
And the key step to face your disease in a "healthier" way…
Question your stressful thoughts. When you get sick or have surgery, thoughts may come like: I will feel pain, something is wrong, there may be complications. Thoughts that fill us with fear and concern and do not contribute anything to us, nor help our well-being or recovery.
In my case, what worried me was above all to feel physical pain from the medical tests and operation and I will use it as an example so you can see how to question your thoughts applying the 4 simple questions and investments of Byron Katie.
Thought: "I will feel physical pain"
1. Is it true? The first thing that comes to mind is yes…
2. Can you know that it is true with total certainty? No (in my case, it was the first time they operated on me and I didn't know exactly what it would be like… it was all assumptions).
3. How do you react, what happens when you have the thought that you will feel pain? It brings me a lot of stress, fear, I worry a lot before the tests imagining that I will feel pain, I tell myself negative stories, I treat the doctors with suspicion, I do not like them, I feel tense. I turn the same topic over and over again.
4. Who would you be without the thought that you will feel pain? Well, I would be calm, I would not worry before time, I would continue my normal life, focused on the present, on the now and not on tests that will come a week later. I would get my life back, I would return to this moment, here, writing these lines instead of having the mind in the doctor's office a week later…
Now we turn this stressful thought around to see how the opposite can be as true or more:
Inversion towards the opposite: "I will not feel physical pain." Look for real examples of how that can be true. In my case, 1) When they did the blood test, I observed what I really felt, and it was not pain, just nervousness, I told the nurse and he replied: “Everything is in the mind, children come here and they do not feel pain or They complain, but the big ones come, with preconceived ideas and they if they have a bad time… ”2) I was able to discover (after the operation), how wonderful the anesthesia was, a few breaths and I woke up in another room and it was all finished…
Investment towards myself or towards “my thoughts”. "My thoughts make me feel pain." Examples of how this can be so true or more: 1) Yes, days before the tests my thoughts can already imagine the pain… a pain that does not exist, that is only in the mind… 2) Yes, the biopsy lasts only a few seconds, but my mind has imagined it many times before and I suffer many times in advance for something that lasted only a few seconds…
Questioning the thoughts that appeared in my mind and verifying more and more that everything I live is the perfect experience for me gave me a lot of peace and tranquility. Our negative interpretation of what we live is what actually makes us suffer and prevents us from seeing that even what we "consider" negative circumstances and crises contains a gift to discover. Remember, you can live your illness from rejection and stress or from peace and acceptance. What do you choose?.
