Today, I am four months symptom free from Parkinson’s. It was a long, hard journey, but the last four months have been a huge reward for success in getting better. I continue to give gratitude for my many blessings.
Getting better was difficult. Here is an excerpt from my daily Parkinson’s journal from one year ago today:
“10/12/09. Up at 4…slow. Got to the kitchen at 4:08. My legs hurt a lot and my back is tight, very, very tight. I noticed the internal tremors very much this morning as well. I am worn out, but I am looking forward to what tomorrow may bring.”
Each day when I got up, I assessed my situation. Apparently, this was a really bad day, and already, I was looking forward to the following day in hopes it would be better. I just flipped the page in my daily Parkinson’s journal, and unfortunately, the next day was worse. That’s how it goes with Parkinson’s.
However, I had a strong faith and belief that I would get better, that “I have the power to heal myself.” The way I view it is that healing begins to take place deep inside where there is no physical manifestation of healing. That is where hope and faith and gratitude and blessings come into place. I feel that to get better, you have to believe you have the power to heal yourself, and you must keep a positive attitude through the most trying of times. Adopting the mantra, “I have the power to heal myself” is a good start.
I have been working with many Parkinson’s sufferers over the last four months. I have found that the biggest challenge most are facing is the ability to stay on the path to recovery when they are faced with increasing pain, increasing rigidity, potentially falling down or falling down, and seeing little or no physical relief from their symptoms. I recently explained to a Parkinson’s sufferer with whom I am working that physically, I felt miserable for 8 and 1/2 months and then I started getting better physically; two weeks later I was symptom free. My belief is that I was healing from the core outward, and the last things that needed to happen were for my mind and body to accept the healing.
What if I had started feeling better physically along the way? Would I have continued doing the exercises that hurt so much? Would I have continued eating properly? Would I have kept up with my daily meditations, chanting and prayers? Or, would I have said, “Wow, this feels so much better than before, I am going to relax and enjoy it for a while. It won’t hurt to stop doing those things for a couple of days.”
Fortunately, I never had to face those questions because I felt like garbage every day. It kept me motivated. It kept me focused. It kept me on the path to recovery because I knew in my heart and soul I would get better one day if I just kept doing what I was doing day after day after day. Along with “I have the power to heal myself” was another empowering mantra, “I am not focused on feeling better, I am focused on getting better.”
All my best,
Howard
