Okay. So, your glass is half full on its way to overflowing with abundant joy. So, you are practicing hopscotch as part of your recovery instead of waiting for your full recovery to consider it. So, after a week of playing the Positive Thinking Only game, what do I have to offer??? More of the same…KEEP PLAYING!
What? How can I ask you to keep being positive in your life and your recovery? This is unheard of…it is completely contrary to human nature. In response, I ask you a very simple question: Weren’t you doing everything according to what was the customarily accepted and expected “human nature” when you got Parkinson’s? Thought so.
That being the case, it is unreasonable to expect that the accepted and expected negative thinking of “human nature” will help you get better. As all of you know, it gets you worse.
Why? Because you never leave your mind. It is that adrenaline-driven mind that jumped on the fear train and took you full throttle to Parkinsonsville. Stay in that adrenaline-driven, human nature, negative thinking, fearful mind, and you can get comfortable in Parkinsonsville because you will not be leaving.
However, there is another choice.
Jump on the heart-felt, dopamine-producing tortoise trolley to Recoveryville. This is a ride where you defy logic and human nature by seeing and experiencing the world through your heart. It was what you were not doing when you got Parkinson’s, and that is why it works. It brings you back into balance.
So, let’s keep playing the game. Here’s some help:
Make it an outrageously joyful Positive Thinking Only game for yourself. I will provide you some examples of what I mean, and you all are bright enough to run, or shuffle, with it from there:
1. Pain. If I had pain in an area where I previously felt nothing, instead of being angry about the pain or fearful of what it might mean (i.e. Parkinson’s getting worse — isn’t that what every change in your symptoms you do not like ultimately adds up to in your mind?), I would say something like, “This is great! Pain means that the electricity is flowing from my brain to the part of my body that hurts or I would not be experiencing pain. This must mean all that stuff in my brain that the doctors say is dead is not really dead.” Defy logic and human nature and see the world through your heart.
2. Stiffness, fatigue, and slowness. “My body is using my available energy to open blockages, so it is making me more stiff and fatigued and slower than usual. It will improve when the blockages are opened. This is great!” Defy logic and human nature and see the world through your heart.
3. Increased tremors. “Wonderful. Tremors are created when electricity hits blockages or escapes from the protective neural covering. Increased tremors means I am creating more energy in my low-energy brain, so I shake more. This is great!” Defy logic and human nature and see the world through your heart.
Defy logic and human nature and see the world through your heart. This is how to bring yourself back into balance.
I started playing this game during my recovery, and I am still playing it today, nearly 5 years since being cured from Parkinson’s. I greet the morning each day with gratitude for being alive. I accept all that is happening in front of me with a compassionate smile and an “okay.” Okay simply means that I am living in the moment and acknowledging what is happening in reality in the moment with acceptance and no judgment. And then I act. I do not react emotionally based upon past or future judgments. I came to realize that the only thing actually happening in my life in the moment is whatever is going on right now…and I embrace it from my heart. Why not? It is my life, one for which I am overwhelmingly grateful.
Defy logic and human nature and see the world through your heart.
Why not? It is your life.
Okay! So who is continuing to play the game by jumping on the heart-felt, dopamine-producing tortoise trolley to Recoveryville? As you know, the tortoise trolley moves very slowly, so nobody will be left behind. Let’s enjoy this journey called life together, with open hearts, joyfulness, and compassion…and recovery!
You are worth it!!!
All my best,
Howard
Thank you Howard, these weekly posts are definitely a boost to my morale and motivation. I need them desperately to keep going towards the finish line. I know it is happiness and joy that floods the brain with dopamine and ultimately help balance everything. I’m trying desperately to focus on joy and happiness, compassion, gratitude, and love for everything in my life. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and expertise with all of us and your Constant support is invaluable. With overwhelming love and gratitude for all you do and for this recovery community Who love her so much. Melanie
My thoughts are exactly the same as yours Melanie, and I thank God for finding Howard’s website and this lovely recovering community. I am definitely on the dopamine producing tortoise trolley!! X
I’m reading a book called BEFORE HAPPINESS by Shawn Achor.
As I read it I keep thinking “that’s what Howard says”.
Thank you Howard for being a “positive genius”.
Just at the right time! I needed to be reminded of this.
This is a great morale booster, as always. Thank you Howard, your the best!
Hi Howard and fellow Warriors, Howard I LOVE your humour. 🙂 The tortoise trolley heading to Recoveryville made me laugh! I’m ON IT! Enjoying the company of my fellow warriors who are on it too. 🙂
You ROCK my friend! You are SO good at this! 🙂
With Big Big Love and Gratitude!
Karen xx
Karen, YOU rock!
LOOOVE your attitude
Cheers Luke,
I love your wooooooo hoooooooo’s! 🙂
Karen xx
Thank you always, Howard, & my fellow Warriors.
Today is a wonderful day to remember to see things from the heart!
…. and, just as Hans said, Howard, your timing is impeccable!
Blessings & love to all
We rock!
So much love! Never been so happy! So much gratitude to you, Howard, who make it possible to see PD as a blessing: a tough, challenging direct route to equanimity, deep peace and living from the heart. Jane
All these inspiring posts continue to be so valuable! Life beyond Parkinson’s symptoms still has challenges, of course, and keeping up with the blog offers so many reminders of how to be truly and deeply healthy! And happy.
I set a daily notification on my smart phone after reading another post months ago; Every day at 2 PM it reminds me “no negative thoughts, no fear”. I am adding “Positive Thinking Only” as a morning reminder to check what is happening inside my brain and make sure the thoughts are serving my best interest.
Thank you,Howard, and brave recovery warriors ..and hopscotchers!…. for being here in this wonderful community.
From Worrier to Warrior, we are meeting the enemy, Mr. PD, embracing with acceptance & heart, not acquiescence & ‘logic’.
Thanks for the play list, Howard, and helping us to see the positive, dopamine-heart path in our symptoms:”defying logic & human nature”, seeing positivity and progress in what we once thought of as negative signs.
Sooo important as Pete’s song goes: “I have the power to heal myself.
I have the power within me.
I have the power to heal myself.
I am recovery.
Thank You
I will keep playing the game until it’s no longer a game, but a way of life that is second nature for me. Thank you, Marie, for sharing your practical ways to keep positive thoughts in focus. And I love and appreciate the enthusiasm of all my fellow warriors!
Yippee…. I can tell by reading the posts, that the positive thinking game is doing wonders for all of us. Thank you to Howard and to all of you 🙂
I have started playing the piano everyday since starting this game. Like Howard said..”Practice now as part of your recovery instead of waiting for your full recovery to consider it.” It has been amazing therapy. I think I will add the guitar for the days that I get all the Recipe for Recovery done before the day is done. lol
I have found that singing my favorite songs that have positive messages, or at least thinking of the words in my mind has also been very helpful. As Howard told me, it is important to keep gratitude and love in your thoughts when you are doing things that don’t require brain power. It keeps my thoughts positive. Sometimes they are very simple songs like “Cause I’ve got joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart; down in my heart, down in my heart. Yes I have joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart, its down in my heart today. And I’m so happy, so very happy, I have the love of joy down in my heart. And I’m so happy, so very happy, I have the love of joy down in my heart………..
Do all of you know that song? Then it is so easy to change the words to “I have the dopamine it flowing through me, flowing through me” or anything else you want to sing about at the time. Also as Howard has said, ” Make it an outrageously joyful Positive Thinking Only song for yourself. I have provided you some examples of what I mean, and you all are bright enough to run, or shuffle, with it from there:”
I love to read all your comments and suggestions. I have added a few to my daily affirmations and have used other positive ideas with great results. Thank you. I hope this little song idea will help someone else.
I am so grateful to Howard and Recipe for Recover ! I love the simplicity of the Program, and like I have said before……….Anyone can do it from anywhere in the world. You can follow it right from your home. Rich or poor, old or young, anyone can do it! Remembering that your best is always good enough. Thanks so much Howard !
Love and Blessings
Have a positively great doing week
Debbie
P.S. Thank you Jane for your comments on Howard’s last post . I added some of it to my affirmations and I can just feel myself getting healthy every time I say it.
Debbie your song made me laugh out loud as you have written it out in such a clever way that I was singing it along with you, which made me laugh out loud with your cleverness! Bless your heart I shall sing it daily! Love your song and your share of you. Big love little miss sunshine. 🙂
Karen xx
😉 🙂 Karen…. I bet you can get pretty creative yourself. The fun thing is that you can make any words fit. “I’ve got a friend in Ireland exercising with me, exercising with me…………. And this fills my heart with GLEE ” lol
Have a great day
Debbie
Thanks Howard and thanks to all who have posted all those wonderful comments. The change that has occurred for me is to actually bring to awareness a new love for the organs of my body and thanking them for their hard work. Acknowledging them like this has changed my perspective and brought a remembrance of how miraculous our body functions. Thanks again. Much love to all.
Debbie – I’m familiar with that song. My kids used to sing it and they were little. But I’m going to start singing it. Thanks for the reminder! I have been keeping a gratitude notebook. I look for things to be grateful for during the day and I log them at night before I go to bed. I have been reading a book called, The 4:8 Principle “The secret to a joy – filled life.” It helps to train people to think positively. Howard, I know that you’re correct, the battlefield is in the mind. I’m so thankful for all of you !
Hi Margee,
You are welcome.
I have a gratitude book that was made as a result of one of Howard’s 30 day challenges. I wrote down 10 things a day that I was grateful for. At the end of the month, I was amazed at the difference it had made in the way I saw my world. I found I was constantly and effortlessly looking for all the good in my life.
Thank you for the book suggestion. Have a wonderful day !
Margee thank you for the reference to the book entitled “The secret to a joy filled life”. I have been reading it and it’s a wonderful way to become more positive and increase that dopamine flow! Every little bit helps in our quest for recovery.
Well what a great group heralded, and guided by Howard. It’s so much what I relate to, to stay positive and enjoy Life. Since having Pk and coming to terms with it and accepting it. Joy and peace have been something I strive for. It’s so good to chat online with you all and positivity and joy and recovery being our focus. I love the idea of singing. I haven’t sung a lot lately I will now. Love love love is all I am. Love love love I call your name. And in joy I will remain I call your name. I sing this when I am cooking. Cheers helen Australia
Wow fellow warriors!I just love the momentum that’s being created. I forsee that a whole load of us tortoises will be declaring recovery one after the other in the not too distant future. It’s going to be a chain reaction!
Gratitude and blessings to everyone.
Waseema
Xx
Sally, I am familiar with Sean Achor’s work and there is a Ted Talk By him entitled little secret to better work and he talks about how important it is to be happy in order to get dopamine blowing flowing. It all has to do with how we view our roo it all has to do with how reviewing World and how to approach problems as a challenge instead of an obstacle. I plan to get the book you suggested and I know you enjoy his talk. A lot of what he says is exactly what Howard teaches us.
M
Thank you Melanie
I will listen!
Wonderful heart-full comments…thank you all for your beautiful sharing and support… Thank you Howard for your guidance and love…
Yaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhoooooooooo. Our joy work is getting contagious. For the jazz fans who are a part of our community, I am copying in an email I just sent to several jazz aficionado friends of mine.
Dear Gordon, Dick, Pete, and Bob —
An African American minister friend of mine in LA just turned me on to an incredible new force in jazz: Kamasi Washington, see below. I immediately downloaded his new 3 CD album, in MP3 format, “Epic,” and I encourage you to do the same. This guy is a genius, maybe the equivalent of a Duke Ellington for this era, combining choral and symphonic accompaniment, while being a virtuoso performer, in the league of John Coletrain, in his own right. He is completely original.
Go to iTunes to sample this guy, hopefully blowing the $12 to acquire his gifts. (Given my well-being journey, I live with the question, when is/isn’t music healing? Kamasi Washington prompted immediate new healing for me. No kidding.)
Love, Barry
PS stay tuned to NPR as they were their for the launch concert earlier this week.
View “Going big in every way” article at http://eeditionmobile.latimes.com/Olive/Tablet/LATimes/SharedArticle.aspx?href=LAT%2F2015%2F05%2F06&id=Ar03901
Hola Karen, Debbie , Helen , Luke , Lhoren, Penny. Melanie, Wassema, Margee, Cinthya, Hans,Pat y toda la comunidad. maravilloso estado de animo de toda la comunidad esto es grandioso , contagia el corazon de alegria y felicidad y yo aqui aporto una frase magica, para aumentar la dopamina . cuando la digan , sientan como vibra su corazon.
Soy bendito por ser un Hijo de Dios.
Soy feliz y estoy en paz; soy amoroso y estoy contento.
Translation:
Hi Karen, Debbie, Helen, Luke, Lohren, Penny. Melanie, Wasseema, Margee, Cynthia, Hans, Pat and the whole community. wonderful mood of the entire community this is great, infects the heart of joy and happiness and here I bring a magical phrase, to increase dopamine. when they say, they feel his heart vibrates.
I am blessed as a Son of God.
I am happy and I am at peace; I’m loving and I’m happy.
My musical version to Pete’s lyrics, ‘I have the power to heal myself,’ (add ‘again’) is the tune to: ‘I’m so happy to be myself, again…’. The possibilities are limitless!
I find my singing voice to be clearer than my speaking. So, what am I waiting for ?
Walking down the street, singing, is contagious and more ‘acceptable’ to those around me than apparent muttering to myself.
Is not ‘singing’ another word for ‘chanting’? What better way to deliver positive, healing, sound vibration energy to our brains and souls than through singing our own, special healing message songs and chipping away at our Parkinson’s Iceberg. (doing the Recipe exercises also)
Thank You, warriors, for all your inputs & Howard for your wonderful, imaginative metaphors.
‘Imagine you are recovery, it’s easy if you try. Imagine all the warriors…..’!
Open those dopamine gates !
Tom
Maybe we should form a choir?! X
YEA!
Hi Warriors, hay house are having a world summit that starts on May 9th. Today I was listening to an old favourite of mine Dr David Perlmutter, he is a top American neurologist who believes in nutrition for brain rather than medicine. Anyway if you go to hayhouseworldsummit.com and register for free, there are 5 free pre summit videos and he is one of them. It’s worth a listen too. The hay house summit always has amazing inspirational speakers and is free to listen to each day. Worth a look. I recon Howard will be featured on there one day, we just need to get him to write his story. 🙂
Big Love to All.
Karen xx
Thanks Karen I just signed up for Hay house I will enjoy watching the tals, thank you Helen Australia
talks
Good morning Starshine!
The earth says “Hello!”
I have been singing this beautiful refrain to myself every day for the past few weeks.
These words now have new meaning because of each of you. Your inspirational ideas and creativity and joyous thoughts inspire me. Thank you thank you thank you.
I am so grateful to listen to your voices my dear worldly friends.
And to Howard – how do you thank someone who has taken you from negativity to luminosity? It isn’t easy but I’ll try.
Sending each of you Healing Harmony and Great Gratitude!
Love Love Love ……
Susana
Joyous Susanna, joyous my friend. 🙂
Karen xx
❤️
Thank you Sussana