Fighting Parkinson’s, and moving like the tortoise

There are things we can learn from the tortoise every day. Please remember, when you proceed like the tortoise, slow and steady, you tend to see many beautiful things in life that you used to just walk passed without noticing. And the joy you feel in living opens your heart and your dopamine as you are working on your recovery. It occurred to me that when we are moving like the tortoise, slowly and steadily, we also have more time to notice all of the subtle unpleasant changes that are happening to our bodies. How do we put fear to the side and deal with those changes?

Faith that we are recovering. And action…doing positive things toward our recovery. That is how we put fear aside and deal with those changes.

One of the greatest difficulties in this recovery is not being concerned about the subtle, and not so subtle, changes that occur day-to-day. Since the Parkinson’s body has limited energy, we have to trust it to know where we need the healing the most. Some days that means we walk a little slower, some days it means we tremor more, some days it means we have a headache.

Here’s a new look at acceptance of these matters:
“Okay. Apparently, I am supposed to be walking slower, because if I wasn’t supposed to be walking slower, I would not be walking slower.”
“Okay. Apparently, I am supposed to be tremoring more, because if I wasn’t supposed to be tremoring more, I would not be tremoring more.”
“Okay. Apparently, I am supposed to have a headache, because if I wasn’t supposed to have a headache, I would not have one.”

The power of “Okay. Apparently…” is representative of true acceptance of what the Universe is offering, and it defeats anger and frustration and resentment and fear. Instead of looking at something and getting upset, just say, “Okay. Apparently, that was supposed to happen” or “Okay. Apparently, I wasn’t supposed to be doing that….” I think you get the picture. The more unpleasant things that occur that you can look at and say, “Okay. Apparently…” the more calm you will be and less angry and fearful you will be as you continue your recovery.

And, the one thing you need to keep constant in your recovery is the Recipe for Recovery.

That way your body can say, “Okay, I know you are doing these things, and I know you are generating this energy, thank you, now I can start fixing this mess.” Failure to accept what is occurring with your recovery causes problems down the road. When people change what they are doing to meet up with the day-to-day healing nuances when they really do not know what is occurring on the inside, then they undo the benefits the body has achieved thus far. Faith, plus action, is key to this philosophy.

And with the Recipe for Recovery, faith plus action looks like this:

I have faith in my recovery. Plus, I am taking action to heal my organs by doing the Qigong exercises. I am recovery!
I have faith in my recovery. Plus, I am taking action to generate more brain activity and energy by doing the Brain Vibration Chanting. I am recovery!
I have faith in my recovery. Plus, I am taking action to make by body healthier by eating better. I am recovery!
I have faith in my recovery. Plus, I am taking action to balance my internal energy by doing Jin Shin Jyutsu. I am recovery!
I have faith in my recovery. Plus, I am taking action to calm my mind by meditating. I am recovery!
I have faith in my recovery. Plus, I am taking action to connect my Inner Divine to my Higher Power by praying, opening my heart, feeling love and joy and laughter and gratitude, and by keeping the faith that I am safe and secure. I am recovery!

The hare views “recovery” as winning the race, only…symptom-free recovery. He fails to understand that, in and of itself, recovery is participating in the race. So when the hare gets off the path toward what he sees as recovery, the destination only, he never finds his way back to the path and he never wins the race.

The tortoise is recovery. The tortoise views recovery as each small advance toward the symptom-free recovery at the finish line. However, the tortoise, by its very nature, has to move slowly and steadily, and the tortoise cannot worry too much about the bumps in the road. Instead the tortoise knows that every step toward the finish line is recovery, in and of itself, and the tortoise sees love and joy and laughter and gratitude and fulfillment on the entire journey.

Oh, yes, and then the tortoise wins the race. There is so much we can learn from the tortoise.

How about taking a lesson form the tortoise and grabbing onto the Recipe for Recovery, and adding in some faith and action and acceptance! How about being recovery!

You are worth it!!!

All my best,

Howard