Fighting Parkinson’s, and the beginning of the Recipe

Six years ago today, I began doing the Parkinson’s Recipe for Recovery®. Back then, it was “just what I was doing to recover from Parkinson’s.” It did not have a fancy name, but every day I did it.

When I began doing the Recipe, Sally mentioned to me to keep a daily journal of what was going on so I could keep track of my progress and have something repeatable to share with others after I recovered. When I began my blog in March of 2010, my second blog post was entitled, “After denial, the need for a strategy.” In that post, I typed up my entire first entry from my Parkinson’s Daily Journal.

Click here to read the entire post “After denial, the need for a strategy.”

As you can see, very little of the Recipe changed from the time I started doing it until the time I recovered. Along the way, I tried some things that offered nothing new or did not advance my recovery, and I tried some things and added them to my routine, such as Clearing Liver Wind and Sitting Zazen.

When you look at what I listed as what I was doing for my recovery, here is number 6: “Smile more, be more patient with my situation, think before moving. Try to be a nicer person. Take each moment as it occurs and deal with it in the best possible manner. No fear allowed. Let my family know every day how much I love them.” As you can see, these are important things, and we have discussed these things many times over the years.

Smile more. Your compassionate smile.
Be more patient with my situation. Patience, tolerance and acceptance.
Think before moving. Awareness of balance.
Try to be a nicer person. Acceptance, surrender, gratitude, compassion.
Take each moment as it occurs and deal with it in the best possible manner. Be in the moment and know that your best is good enough.
No fear allowed. We have covered fear many times.
Let my family know every day how much I love them. Love, joy, compassion, gratitude.

So, for those of you just starting the Recipe, and for those of you who have been doing it for a while, my message remains the same: Along with doing the physical part of the Recipe, treat yourself with love and compassion, feel the joy of your existence, give gratitude for life, smile at everybody including yourself, let those who you love know you love them, be in the moment with acceptance and surrender, let go of fear, and always know that you are a beautiful radiant being and your best is good enough.

You can do this.

You are worth it!!!

All my best,
Howard