Fighting Parkinson’s, and Marie is five years symptom free!

WOW! Marie is five years symptom free. How inspiring is that! Five years ago, in the middle of my November to Remember, No Excuses November, 30-day challenge 2011, a comment was posted on the blog that Marie would not be accepting the 30-day challenge because she was fully recovered. Now, here we are, five years later from my November 11, 2011 post entitled, “Fighting Parkinson’s, and Marie is symptom free.” For the last five years, Marie has continued posting comments to inspire and encourage all of us.

I will begin with Marie’s comment announcing her recovery:

From my November 11, 2011 post, five years ago today, with what Marie had to say:

Marie says:
November 10, 2011 at 1:07 pm

“I accepted an internal 30-day challenge from myself when I discovered
fightingparkinsonsdrugfree almost a year ago. And that was just the beginning. I made a promise to myself that I would do whatever was necessary and change my life in whatever ways would support recovery, if it was really possible to have my condition improve rather than degenerate. As Howard so often says, ” What did I have to lose?” I trusted Howard as my guide, and the bearer of good news that penetrated the bleakness of my fear and despair . I put my faith in my power to heal myself. The Recipe for Recovery was my lifeline. AND it is why I can happily and gratefully report to you today that the reason I am not accepting this challenge now is that I am symptom free! YES! Symptom Free!!!
Cheering you all on as you courageously overcome the disease. I am a happy example of the success of the Recipe for Recovery.
With love to you all~ Marie”

Up until that time, I was the only one who had cured myself utilizing the Parkinson’s Recipe for Recovery®, so Marie curing herself became proof of concept: Yes, the Recipe would work for others! This was big news as many people were greatly inspired to learn that the Recipe worked for Marie — it made them know it could work for them.

Here is an excerpt from a comment Marie wrote shortly after being cured of Parkinson’s:

Marie says:
November 19, 2011 at 10:35 pm

“I’ve just read both of the latest posts, and all of the comments. How exciting to feel all the faith, courage and support being shared here. We are a lucky bunch! It is wonderful to read the comments and see the shifts in awareness and the victories over the disease. I never took any meds and am in awe of each of you who is defying that medical model and choosing to take yourself off the drugs and fight Parkinson’s.
You are so brave, and from what I read in your posts, it is working. You are getting better.
Because it is such a powerful component in my own recovery, I offer this :
Fully acknowledge yourself and give yourself credit for what you are doing. Love yourself for how truly brave you are
and how dedicated you are to healing yourself. Thank yourself for this precious gift you are giving yourself. Sit in that feeling and give your brain a lovely dopamine bath.
Our gracious guide, Howard, always tells us that we are doing it for ourselves, and still, I think we tend to praise everyone else for the inspiration they are providing.
Be grateful to yourself, too, for having that opening that let the inspiration move you.

For me, this has been a good tool, and I hope it may be useful. I found it very hard to do ,at first. Kind of embarrassing. And actually, it is even a little hard to write about
now.
“What? She sits around loving herself????”
I’ll tell you, I do, every chance I get.”

Over the last five years, Marie has continued to support our recovery community with comments she has posted. Last week, she posted this comment:

Marie says:
November 5, 2016 at 11:40 am

“Oh, Howard, I always love when there is a post about chipping away at the iceberg! That is such a wonderful and truly inspiring image of working from the inside, following the Recipe, with the certainty that the chipping is breaking away the iceberg. After reading it for the first time, I put on my lab coat, grabbed my hammer and chisel and really got chipping. It is funny how I visualized myself chipping in a long white lab coat, since there was no mention in your post of chipping attire, but, maybe because of the seriousness of the task , I visualized myself that way, and chipped my way to freedom .
It was a powerful image for me then, and a delightful memory for me now. I am so grateful for your sharing this metaphor and that you handed me the chisel.
To those of you who have accepted the November challenge, I wish you a sharp chisel and strong arm! You can do it! Chip. Chip. Chip!!!”

Additionally, three years ago, we all were fortunate to have Marie attend my Santa Fe, New Mexico workshop. At the Santa Fe workshop, I got to meet Marie in person for the first time. I can assure you, she is the luminous soul all of you presumed she would be from reading the comments she continues to post on this blog to support and inspire all of us.

Here is a picture from the following day, when I got to spend time with Marie at her home. This picture is in one of her beautiful gardens:

Even though we had met in person for the first time the day before, I felt that special connection, the one that feels like you have known somebody for decades, not just a couple of days. Before I left, Marie shared with me something she had been told in a seminar many years ago. The instructor explained that fear is like a prayer. If you live in fear, it is like praying for everything you fear to come true.

Let’s live in faith. Let’s live in love. Then faith in recovery can be your prayer, and love for yourself and others can kindle the flame of joy in your heart.

Finally, two years ago, Marie posted a comment to help all who were forging ahead in that year’s November to Remember, No Excuses November, 30-day Challenge 2014. Here is what she had to say:

Marie says:
November 5, 2014 at 2:02 pm

“Dear Recovery Community,
It is so beautiful to read all of these posts. To those of you who have accepted the 30 Day Challenge, congratulations!! You are so fortunate to have found Howard and his amazing Recipe for Recovery! You are recovering from Parkinson’s!

Since I recovered , I don’t do the Recipe for Recovery anymore, but when I committed to following the Recipe, it totally changed my life. From the Recipe, I learned how to live a happier, less stressful life and learned the importance of savoring what is good in each day, and practicing, Gratitude.

Howard once told me that for some people who find the website….and I paraphrase here, since I do not remember the exact words….a block to recovery is thinking that Howard is so amazing ….so committed, so full of Faith…that, in some way he is “better” and that is why the Recipe worked for him. Maybe you do not believe that you could do the Recipe ”as well” as Howard did it. Maybe you don’t feel 100% faith in your recovery and you think that will keep you from recovering.

As he does for many of you, Howard holds a very special place in my heart, my mind and my spirit. I love and admire him. He is a truly rare and awesome being!!!!!
To each of you I want to say that you can most certainly do the Recipe for Recovery as well as I did, and I recovered. I committed myself to doing the Recipe, even when I was not sure that I believed it. The commitment was rock solid. Faith was a little more difficult. When I didn’t feel like doing the Recipe, I did it anyway. When I did not have Faith in my recovery, I did not let that derail me; seeing how easy it would be to let lack of faith get in my way , I “acted as if” I had faith, until my faith caught up with me again.

Whatever obstacles you find, you can also find your way to sidestep them. Don’t let ANYTHING stop you.

Love and best wishes, Marie”

So, my dear friend, Marie, here we are five years after you becoming cured from Parkinson’s. Absolutely amazing! Absolutely inspiring! Absolutely loving! Your recovery…and you…absolutely amazing! and inspiring! and loving! You could have given your gratitude and walked away. You could have said, “I am cured, good luck to the rest of you…and disappeared.” But no, here you are, still opening your heart to all of us, still being such an active part of our recovery community with your blog post comments.

I want everybody to know that I never have asked you to post a single comment since your recovery, but instead, that you have continued to give of yourself from your heart. I am grateful for you, Marie, my dear, dear friend. With gratitude, blessings, hugs, and love, Howard.

CONGRATULATIONS, MARIE!!! FIVE YEARS SYMPTOM FREE FULL RECOVERY, CURED FROM PARKINSON’S!!!

Who’s next? What are you waiting for?

Make the commitment to cure yourself from Parkinson’s!

Okay, everybody, put big smiles on your faces and chant together so the whole world can hear:

“Parkinson’s is curable.
I am my own Parkinson’s cure.
I am halting, slowing, and reversing the progression of my Parkinson’s.
I am extraordinary.
I am recovery.
I am doing great!

AND, I AM WORTH IT!!!”

Yes you are. Each and every one of you is WORTH IT!!!

All my best,

Howard

I will resume my Daily Parkinson’s Journal tomorrow with parts 45 and 46.