Fighting Parkinson’s, and the turning point in my recovery

“What was the turning point in your recovery?” I get asked this quite a bit. I wrote about it last year and here is an excerpt for those of you who have not read it. The turning point in my recovery was where I started. Upon realizing I had Parkinson’s, I sat down with Sally, and we put together a plan to fight it. I looked inside and knew at that point in time I would be symptom free some day, and we put together a plan to get started. I know this is a difficult concept because we are taught from a young age to rely on experts when we face matters outside our expertise.

If you can truly grab onto the concept that you have the power to heal yourself, this would be a great first step. My research of Parkinson’s told me three things from the experts: 1. nobody knew the cause; 2. it impacted everybody differently; and 3. there is no cure. Quite frankly, unless I knew I had the power to heal myself, I would have been doomed because, clearly, the experts saw no way of getting better.

I liken this to a runner. On the one hand, you have the marathon runner. I would imagine at mile 15, the marathon runner’s legs do not want to run any more. At that point, the runner has to look inside and find the inner strength to go that last 11+ miles to finish the race. On the other hand is Forrest Gump. Forrest was facing issues in life he could not handle, so he ran. And he ran and he ran and he ran. When he looked inside himself for the inner strength, his Inner Divine, it was not to help him reach an extra 11+ miles to finish the race. No, when Forrest looked inside himself for his inner strength, his Inner Divine, it was to help him continue running until he did not have to run anymore.

Parkinson’s is a race I ran like Forrest Gump. I looked inside myself, got on the path, and ran (actually, I mostly shuffled). It is a race that is won by the tortoise, not the hare. It is long, and tedious, and it is filled with large bumps in the road. And when depression set in as the disease continued to rear its ugly head, then it was for Sally and Steven and Genevieve and Victoria, because I owed it to them to get better and not give up on myself. I did not leave the path and I did not lose faith, and I recovered.

You have to look inside yourself and know that some day you will get better and get on the path you feel is the correct one…and do not get off of the path. Look inside yourself and if you have doubts about the path you are taking, explore why you have doubts, why you lack the confidence in yourself that you are on the correct path…do not change the path if you feel it is the correct path.

When Forrest Gump was running, some people thought that he was a complete idiot. Some people thought that Forrest was the Messiah. I think that Forrest was just a guy facing some tough issues in life who knew he had the power to heal himself, and he got on a path and ran until he was healed.

All my best,

Howard

NOTE: Don’t forget, I am providing a special offer on Parkinson’s Coaching through the end of June. Click here to learn more about Parkinson’s Coaching, including how to sign up for the One-Month Parkinson’s Coaching Package with the special offer.