Choosing to control your life. The current medical viewpoint of your life after a Parkinson’s diagnosis is that you have an incurable disease and you are heading down a progressively degenerative path for the rest of your life — you have no control over your Parkinson’s path to a progressively degenerative life…for the rest of your life. My viewpoint of your life is that you can choose to reject the current medical viewpoint of your life after a Parkinson’s diagnosis, that Parkinson’s is curable and if you are doing the Recipe for Recovery, you are not heading down a progressively degenerative path for the rest of your life — instead, you are heading toward symptom free full recovery from Parkinson’s…for the rest of your life (I think that is how they define “cured.”). Given this choose, what do you choose?
Progressively degenerative life versus healthy, recovered, cured life. It seems that this choice would be an easy one. However, recently I have learned from a few people that it is a harder choice than appears on the surface. It isn’t that the people do not want to choose the healthy, recovered, cured life. It isn’t even that they do not want to do the work it takes to recover — they do, and they are. It is getting the resurfacing fear of the progressively degenerative life out of their heads that is causing the problem.
Identifying the problem is a very good thing because then we can work on a solution. The solution is to go back to the beginning and build your recovery on a strong foundation. The foundation on which to build your recovery is this:
“I have the power to heal myself.” “I know I will recover.” “The Recipe for Recovery is the blueprint for my path to recovery.” This is where you need to start. It is where the people who are the most successful in their recoveries, Marie and I included, began this journey.
One person expressed to me that this person understood the need for these three statements in order to be successful. The person was struggling with this as a result of the current medical viewpoint and what is on the internet. If you think about any major disease from which people now recover, at some point in time the then-current medical viewpoint post-diagnosis was that the person’s life was hopeless…much the same as the current medical viewpoint of Parkinson’s Disease…hopeless, hopeless, hopeless.
So, here are the choices:
1. Choose to accept a hopeless life from here on out because somebody outside of you has chosen a hopeless life for you.
2. Choose to not let somebody outside of you control your life by stealing your hope, and chose to control you own life.
Those are the choices. The choice is yours on how to proceed!
And, to help you succeed in choosing to control your own life and choosing your path to recovery over hopeless progressively degenerative misery, I offer the following:
1. At night when you lay down to go to sleep, silently repeat to yourself, “I have the power to heal myself.” “I know I will recover.” “The Recipe for Recovery is the blueprint for my path to recovery.” Make this your “fall asleep to” mantra. If you can use this as you are falling asleep, it will take on a trance-like feeling and will work into your mind and do battle with the Parkinson’s fear lurking in your mind.
2. When you wake up in the morning if you feel uneasy or your symptoms start up right away, silently repeat to yourself a few times before you get out of bed, “I have the power to heal myself.” “I know I will recover.” “The Recipe for Recovery is the blueprint for my path to recovery.” And then smile a big smile that opens your heart and confirms that you have the power to heal yourself, and you are.
3. During the day if you start to feel fear creeping in, silently repeat to yourself, “I have the power to heal myself.” “I know I will recover.” “The Recipe for Recovery is the blueprint for my path to recovery.”
4. Go and read the Testimonials Page on this site. Recently, I started going back through inspirational comments people have posted on this site about the progress of their recoveries, and I started copying and pasting them on the Testimonials Page for ease of access in other people being able to locate and read them. These are the comments of how your fellow travelers in our recovery community are doing; they are time and date stamped, and I provided links so you can click the links and read the posts to which they were writing their comments, essentially providing you with a real-time account of how they were doing in their recoveries when they posted their comments.
Each of these people, and many others who have not posted comments, have chosen to take control of their lives and get on their paths to recovery from Parkinson’s.
The path to recovery from Parkinson’s is a choice that begins with three simple, but powerful, statements:
“I have the power to heal myself.”
“I know I will recover.”
“The Recipe for Recovery is the blueprint for my path to recovery.”
I left off of this list, “I know I am worth it,” because, by now, each and every one of you knows you are worth!
All my best,
Howard
Thank you once again, Howard…. I think the key here is realizing that, in all things, I do have choice and I am personally empowered to the degree that I recognize this…. and, of course, I choose life and I am committed to recovery. I am worth it….everybody is.
This morning, as I did my exercises, I focused on kindness…on allowing the energy of kindness to flow through and guide me…..an act that honored my sense of worthiness and the value of self care. I was delighted with the ease that this act of kindness facilitated and I really enjoyed my exercises…imagine that….
With gratitude
Penny in Canada
Hello Howard and friends,
Thank you, Howard, for this inspiring post. You provide so much wisdom. Your posts were so important to me as I made the journey to recovery, always coming at just the right moment with just the message I needed. You continue to light the way with brilliant posts like this one! I love checking in to read your words.
Sometimes, like tonight, the words touch me so much as they remind me of what it was like when I was just starting to follow the Recipe for Recovery and dealing with my own fears, so I would like to share a few thoughts with those who are in that struggle.
If the medical model had not been so hideously bleak and so profoundly disheartening and depressing, if that medical model had offered even a glimmer of actual recovery…..
Maybe I would not have thrown my heart and soul into the Recipe for Recovery. But as it was, Howard pointed me toward the only open door, the only alternative offered, the only hopeful path. For me, the only choice.
If my fear had not been so huge I might not have had the will power to embark on this journey and follow it through. So thanks, fear: You left me no other choice. I was fortunate to really understand that fear might push me into action, but fear could not travel this path with me; fear would block my way. I stopped doing some of the things that I knew fed my fear. I stopped keeping my detailed journal records of disease symptoms and stopped reading about Parkinson’s on the internet, except Howard’s blog and The Parkinson’s Recovery Project which were both exciting antidotes to fear, and I turned my attention to my cultivating my power to heal myself.
I followed the Recipe with a deep commitment to and belief in my healing. When fear arose, as it did, of course, I tried to tune it out, knowing it was a digression I could not afford. The adrenaline/dopamine information really made sense to me, and fit so well. I tried to turn on the dopamine faucet and move on, out of the dank domain of fear into a happier, more wholesome place. For me, focusing on heartfelt gratitude was one of the best ways to sidestep fear. Once I had a some inner space, I would tune into my power to heal myself as Howard had done. It was the only choice I had. I trusted Howard and thought, “If he has recovered from Parkinson’s, so can I. I know I can. I will………and I am ” That was tremendously empowering.
I have the Power to heal myself. I no longer have any symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease.
If Howard could do it, I knew I could do it, too. I have the Power to heal myself. If I could do it….you can too. You have the Power to heal yourself. You have the Recipe for Recovery. Don’t let fear stop you. Find your way over, under, around or through…but don’t let fear block your way.
With love and best wishes for your recovery,
Marie
Gulp! I just deleted my Google alert for Parkinson’s Disease. I’m shaking. Laurie
Thank you Howard and Marie,
I’m sure it would be very easy, once recovered, to just get on with your life. Thank you for sharing your stories and helping the people who have not yet recovered on their path.
Howard has helped me recognize some unproductive patterns and slowly realizing that letting go of these patterns is the way out.
Thank you again,
Sally
Thank you for the words of wisdom & encouragement. I too have deleted my PD alert. I am committed to recovery & embracing a new life.
Bill
I began the Recipe for Recovery on November 1, 2011. I was committed then and I’m committed now to stay on this road to recovery… Until I recover. I made a decision on April 1 to change another aspect of my life in order to improve my chances for recovery. I gave notice at my job of my intent to quit working at the end of April. Today was the first day of my “retirement”. As I told Howard a few months ago, I am “all in” in this Recipe for Recovery. Making changes in my personality is the most difficult part of the recipe. My personality is the typical “Parkinson’s” personality. In the past, fear drove so much of who I was. But no longer. I am releasing my fears one by one. Letting go of my job is a big step for me. But I know that for me to give everything I have to recovery, it is the right thing to do. Now I can focus on the recipe wholeheartedly. I appreciate today’s post so much. Thank you Marie, for sharing your thoughts as well. Like many others, I refuse to scour the Internet for more remedies for Parkinson’s. I believe I found the right recipe. I don’t want to muddy the waters by constantly reading about new updates or new meds.
I heard 2 statements in the last week that really spoke to me: “Anxiety is a faith battle”. “Fear manifests itself in excessive planning”. On this first day of “retirement”, I made no plans except to do the Recipe and my daily devotion. It was a very good day!
Thank you, Howard, and this community of believers for keeping me on track to recover!
Teri
Thank you for this post. I too am the PD personality. The last day of my career as I knew it, was January 28, 2012 and a new path began much earlier than I would have ever imagined. It is a daily battle to overcome the ‘Driven’ mindset that I harbored for so many years. I am in the process of ‘rebooting’ the hard drive of my mind which contributed to putting me in this place and it is NOT a simple task. Dr. Sha’s book ‘Soul, Mind,Body Healing’ is a great resource for me. I have so much to learn & I have come a place where I truly appreciate the ‘small things/moments’ in life that most folks never see. I have vowed to not be a ‘complainer’ ever again. I would GLADLY mow my grass, with enthusiasm & joy. I have faith & trust that God will light my path.
Here’s to a Great day.
Bill
Congratulations, Teri. That is very exciting news.
Teri, Thanks for sharing about your journey. Be encouraged…
jeff
Thank you, Marie, for your inspiring and supportive words…they provide such clarity and direction. Your words about the value of focussing on gratitude are especially helpful and insightful.
Congratulations, Teri, on your courageous decision to retire and focus on recovery…. I wish you joy and fun as you travel this road….
Thank you, Penny! The support of this community is an integral part of helping me focus on the things that will keep me on the road to recovery. I wish you well!
Teri
Thank you Howard, Marie, Teri, Bill, Penny, Sally,
I am sooo grateful to be part of this. Today, I had no Google alerts to read; coincidentally, I found some research on gratitude. I thought you, too, would find it inteeresting.
“In fact, psychological studies do indicate that people have a “set happiness level.” One study revealed that whether a person wins the lottery or becomes paralyzed from the neck down, three to six months after the event, his/her happiness level returns to what it was before.
This finding bothered Professor of Psychology Robert Emmons of the University of California in Davis. He launched an experimental investigation for a way to “nudge up the happiness set point.” His experiments revealed the agent that indeed produces long-term happiness: gratitude. Prof. Emmon’s experiments showed that keeping a gratitude journal increases long-term happiness levels by 25%.
Professor Emmons’s research is significant not only because it scientifically links gratitude to happiness, but also because it shows that the trait of gratitude can be acquired.
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