Doing. Taking action to create a strong foundation in your recovery is what it takes to move forward in a positive direction in your recovery journey. Today, we discuss this in-depth.
In Not Always So, Suzuki states, “To be completely concentrated on what you do, that is simplicity. And the beauty of practice is that it can be extended endlessly. You cannot say our way is quite easy or that it is very difficult. It is not difficult at all. Everyone can do it, but to continue it is rather difficult. Don’t you think so?”
Applying Suzuki’s wisdom to the Parkinson’s Recipe for Recovery®, it looks like this: “To be completely concentrated on what you do, that is simplicity. And the beauty of practice is that it can be extended endlessly. You cannot say that the Recipe is quite easy or that it is very difficult. It is not difficult at all. Everyone can do it, but to continue it is rather difficult. Don’t you think so?”
Doing. Taking action to create a strong foundation in your recovery is what it takes.
Even if you do not have the time or energy to do the entire soul, mind, and body parts of the Recipe each day, do some of the Recipe each day with gratitude for what you can do and without self-judgment or self-criticism for not doing all of it. This will help you create a strong foundation. Here is an example:
A single sheet of copy paper is seemingly weightless with very little form or substance. If each day you put one single sheet of copy paper on top of the sheet from the day before, in 500 days, you have a ream of paper with a weight of 5 pounds. In 5,000 days, you have a case of ten reams of paper with a weight of 50 pounds.
But wait, how did you get from a flimsy sheet of copy paper to a case of paper weighing 50 pounds? Doing! Taking action each day by doing something as simple as putting one more flimsy sheet of paper on top of the piece of paper from the day before. The hard part is placing the sheet of paper on top of the one from the day before, and doing this every day. The hard part is doing this every day with faith that in the end you will have your 50 pound case of copy paper.
Looking at the Recipe, do what you can to create your strong foundation, and do it every day. Here is a simple suggestion:
The soul: Gratitude. Action. Write down three things for which you are grateful. Do this every day.
The mind. Calm the mind. Action. Sit zazen (or meditation of choice) for at least 5 minutes. Do this every day.
The body. Physical part of the Recipe. Action. Do at least one of the physical parts of the Recipe in its entirety or for at least five minutes. Do this every day.
If you can do more than this, then do it. If this is all you can do, then do it. Whatever part or parts of the Recipe you are doing, taking action to create your strong foundation means doing it every day.
I have been asked in the past, “Did you really do the Recipe every day?” My response has been simple and consistent, “I don’t know about your Parkinson’s, but my Parkinson’s did not take a day off, so I did not take a day off.”
However, I also stopped doing the physical part of the Recipe the day of my full recovery, and the mental and spiritual lessons learned became how I live my life.
What are you doing, right here, right now? How about taking action and creating a strong foundation for your recovery!
You are worth it!!!
All my best,
Howard
Thank you Howard!
The saying “Rome wasn’t built in one day!” comes to mind.
I always feel better after doing any part of the recipe. I think that renewed hope and optimism which comes from taking action and feeling empowered somehow melts some of the stiffness, or helps in some other way. It’s got to be giving a nice little dose of Dopamine just as seeing a new blog from “Fighting Parkinson’s” in my inbox also does!
Have a beautiful week everyone !
xoxox
Wonderful advice, Howard! Everything needs to be trained, the languages, sport things or music lessons… but at the end we get a good result! In our case we all are dreaming of: recovery🤗
Dear Howard,
Thank you.
Just what I needed. Yes I do feel guilty when I skip part of the recipe sometimes. So this helps me to be ok with it. It’s not the first time we talked about guilt. It’s a strong useless emotion.
Thanks for the perfect timing Howard!
Love to you and to all the courageous warriors!!
Sylvia
Hi Howard, great post. Tremors bad today but staying strong.
Love to all warriors.
Big love,
Karen. 💕
Howard –
Thanks again for providing the encouragement and tools of the recipe with which we can pour out our negative thoughts and habits, and pour in positive ones until we hit that wonderful tipping point that leads to a life well lived.
Best wishes to everyone,
– Chris
Thanks Howard, this is just what I was going to address when I spoke with you later today. Now I can talk about another challenge that I’ve been having. Actually I’ve been doing some of the Recipe every day since November 2018. It was easy at first, but as time has passed I get impatient that I haven’t totally healed and some days are more challenging than others. When I am busy and more active I don’t always fit it in and then I battle with guilt or resistance. Anyway this entry reminds me that I need to stop finding fault with me. That is an old pattern that contributed to this diagnosis, now I need to appreciate what I am doing and have gratitude for the progress I am making.
Howard, thank you for this post. Taking action every day will ultimately enable us to reach the goal of full recovery.
Thank you so much!
Sharon in North Carolina
This is a great reminder to the hare in me that wants quick results would be better served by following the way of the tortoise 🙂
When swimming don’t reach for the wall, it will always be there, rather just focus on swimming.
Tackle life like a child at play,
Like roses laugh in merry May.
Put musty mind back on the shelf.
You’ve better diamonds in yourself.
Let spirit float on gentle sighs,
Like eagles soar in clear blue skies.
Take time to raze the prison bars,
Before you return to the stars.
So Nice!
Respected Howard, sir. The perfect timely advice, as always. I am into the recipe for 1 year. There are phases, I feel bored of recipe and after 1 or 2 days skipping, I feel guilty of not doing. But you rightly remind the same old saying, drop by drop the ocean can be filled. So I will keep it up. Thanks again for the reminder…regards, Mona
Oh yeah, sometimes I loose faith but then Howard comes every week with his posts to give a kick at the bottom to wake up and keep on going. So guys, here we go again, circle left, circle right, bend left, bent right, etc. 😝
Dear Kind Sir,
Thank you for the reminder. I was getting rather lackadaisical at doing the Recipe consistently daily. I needed a shot in the arm so to speak to jump start my enthusiasm motor running at peak performance. Yippee.