Parkinson’s Disease does not care about us. It needs us to survive, but it does not care about us. It needs a body to live in, but it does not care about us. It needs a mind to live in, but it does not care about us. It needs a soul to try to permeate, but it does not care about us. It does not care about our age or sex or color of our skin or country of our origin or religion into which we are born…as long as it can invade and pollute a soul and a mind and a body, it is happy. Parkinson’s fights us back when we wage our war against it, chipping away at it day by day. It is why we have to feel worse before we can get better.
Think about this:
Ground troops (you) are on a mission to overtake the enemy’s command center (Parkinson’s).
When the troops are 200 miles away, what is the level of the enemy’s concern; how hard is the enemy fighting against the troops?
When the troops are 100 miles away, what is the level of the enemy’s concern; how hard is the enemy fighting against the troops?
When the troops are 50 miles away, what is the level of the enemy’s concern; how hard is the enemy fighting against the troops?
When the troops are 10 miles away, what is the level of the enemy’s concern; how hard is the enemy fighting against the troops?
When the troops are 1 mile away, what is the level of the enemy’s concern; how hard is the enemy fighting against the troops?
When the troops are 1000 feet away, what is the level of the enemy’s concern; how hard is the enemy fighting against the troops?
When the troops have arrived at the enemy’s command center walls and are breaking down the doors and climbing over the walls, what is the level of the enemy’s concern; how hard is the enemy fighting against the troops? I think you will have to agree that at this point in time, doesn’t the enemy unleash whatever big guns it has left in order to defeat or discourage the troops so they will leave?
Do the troops get discouraged and leave or do they stay and fight the fight of their life to carry out the mission? Do you have the will and strength and faith to outlast Parkinson’s when it is unleashing the big guns? Or does fear grab you, Parkinson’s fear, and trick you into thinking that because you are feeling worse, you are getting worse? Parkinson’s is a crafty enemy.
Why do you think that while you are spending all of that time chipping away at the inside of that iceberg (see the last blog entry, Fighting Parkinson’s, and chipping away, day by day) that you generally see and feel little or no progress in how your external symptoms appear? Parkinson’s wants you to give up on your own. Why do you think Parkinson’s fights you so hard when you have chipped away at the iceberg long enough that you are breaking through to the surface? Because Parkinson’s knows that for you to have stayed on the path long enough to break through to the surface, along the way you have gained self-confidence and an undying strength in your soul, mind and body that screams at Parkinson’s, “I have the power to heal myself!”
At that juncture, there is nothing left for Parkinson’s to do but unleash whatever it has left in its arsenal to make you stop fighting. Parkinson’s realizes that it cannot win, so it tries to trick you into thinking that you cannot win.
But you are not fooled. No, you are not fooled. You are taking control. You have the Recipe for Recovery, your confidence in yourself and your faith in your Higher Power to help you and guide you and see you through to victory. You are taking control of your Parkinson’s and your Parkinson’s is experiencing fear. That’s right, your Parkinson’s is afraid of you!
You are recovering, chipping away day by day, and there is nothing…nothing that Parkinson’s can do to make you surrender. You are strong, and you stay on your path, and you continue fighting until you win!
You are worth it!!!
All my best,
Howard
Have we not also to consider that we invited it in? Parkinsons may be of our own creation, if you will, our karmic destiny, here to learn from. Does it not demand our attention, mirror some deeper hidden truth about ourselves which up to now has not been in our conscious awareness? Of course I speak of my experience here. I prefer your analogy of the bully … By stepping back, away from the drawn line, away from its hands at arms’ length on our heads, it loses its power over us, to control us, lets go when we refuse to resist it no longer. It needs paying attention to. Love it, embrace it, if you will, thankful that it has done its job well to reawaken us, me to my truth. Like adrenaline, acknowledged and made ready to undertake its transformation so too these symptoms, our particular symptoms, are recognized and transforming and in so doing we, I, am transformed. All of course held in the hands of the Divine….
Thaks, Howard, I needed that!
Thanks – whoops
I agree with Angela, in that I have learned so much about myself on this journey to recovery. Things that have been hidden for years are surfacing and allowing me to deal with them. This is a good thing that makes me stronger! Parkinsons, be afraid, be very afraid!! I have the power to heal myself!
Stay the course, everyone!
Teri
Angela and Teri’s comments are ‘spot on’ as the English would say. I feel as though there are a number of us standing, firmly planted, hand in hand, together in spirit, all saying our mantra of “We are worth it”. There is strength in numbers and as more of us join the path of The Recipe to Recovery it will be like The Hundredth Monkey, delivering to everyone, everywhere, the awareness that with discipline and determination Parkinson’s is a demon that can be driven out.
Lynn, I love your image of all of us connected together as we share the same focus. We can encourage each other on this path! I have been doing the Recipe at full throttle for over a month now, and am off the kapikacchu (supplement) with no worsening of symptoms. Also, my sense of smell has come back!
I hope others will share their success as well!
Hi all, I am just a beginner in this Recipe. 2weeks today. Trying to keep my spirits up
morning as tremors are really in persistence mode. Any suggestions?
Thank you all for sharing your journeys with the rest of us. We are inspired.
Angela, here are a couple of suggestions:
1. Governing Vessel acupressure, points GV 2-20. Since it is on the spine, if you have somebody to help you, they would press lightly with a fingertip or two and massage in a circular motion beginning at point 2 and going up to point 20, spending 15-20 seconds per point. Here is a link to the GV points, http://www.yinyanghouse.com/acupuncturepoints/governingvessel_meridian_graphic. If you do not have somebody to assist you, you probably can reach the lower points and the higher points yourself.
2. Prior to getting out of bed in the morning, roll onto your back and do some slow, deep breathing. Your brain has been resting and when you awake, everything bombards it and the tremors take off; this is too much activity for a low energy Parkinson’s brain to handle all at once and the tremors increase. This happens with many people when first awakening and immediately getting out of bed. By rolling onto your back prior to getting out of bed and doing the slow deep breathing, it provides your brain the ability to slowly wake up and your body is filled with nice, fresh oxygen from the deep breathing, and your tremors should not go into persistence mode.
Blessings,
Howard
Hi Howard
Thx for your reply. I have a Ton Ren doll and tap on these points. The energy moving along the GV meridien is expansive.
I wonder too if the start of the ‘off’ from sinemet impacts this tremor. I believe it does. It’s as if something other than dopamine takes over resulting in outer tremor than inner tremor. The how of this I don’t quite get. When I do I can come up with an affirmation. 🙂