A comment posted to my previous blog post says, “Ha, my mind says: “what-if-it-doesn’t-happen” this mind puts me in doubt. One foot in the cure and one foot: what if……” Today, I will dissect “what if” for all of you.
“What if” is a tool of the ego mind to bring fear and trepidation to every person with Parkinson’s. “What if” consistently is followed by some negativity from a person’s imagination about some future event that has no reality in the moment.
Let’s look at the one from last week, “what-if-it-doesn’t-happen.” (The “it” being the full recovery). Can you see how you are being fooled by your own mind? You do not owe an explanation to your own mind. Your mind is trying to stop you from opening your heart and soul to the knowing of your full recovery.
The ego mind knows that when you become firmly rooted in your heart and soul, the ego mind is rendered powerless. Do not be deceived by your overthinking mind. You do not have to justify yourself, your life, or your choice to know that the Parkinson’s Recipe for Recovery® will work for you.
It is time to fight back against your own mind. Do not respond with an answer. Respond with a question that your ego mind cannot answer. Turn your ego mind against itself.
Here’s what it looks like.
Your mind: “What-if-it-doesn’t-happen?”
Your heart and soul: “What if it does happen?”
Your mind: “What if increasing tremors mean I am getting worse?”
Your heart and soul: “What if they mean I am increasing my energy and getting better?”
Your mind: “What the stiffness means I am getting worse?”
Your heart and soul: “What if it means I am increasing my energy and I am getting better?”
Your mind: “What if my walking does not improve?”
Your heart and soul: “What if it does?”
Your mind: “What if my balance gets worse?”
Your heart and soul: “What if it gets better?”
Your mind: “What if the Recipe does not work for me?”
Your heart and soul: “What if it does?”
This should be enough examples to let you how this looks in practice.
Your new approach to “what if” is simple. Every negative “what if” question gets a positive “what if” question thrown right back at it. When I say “every,” I mean “every.” Be strong, be firm, be courageous, and be relentless.
If you want to break the old habit of having your overthinking negative adrenaline mind use its imagination to provide you fear of a future that has no basis in present reality, then you need to be resolute in your conviction to answer every negative “what if” with a positive “what if.”
The mind: “What if Howard has completely lost his mind and is wrong about this?”
The heart and soul: “What if he is correct?”
By the way, I have completely lost my ego mind and have been living from my heart and soul for the last eleven years. It is called being cured from Parkinson’s. I highly recommend it!
You can do this!
You are worth it!!!
All my best,
Howard
Thanks Howard. I have been trying to work along those lines, the support is timely, because the ego mind is one persistant little beast. I just need to be more persistant.
Yes I can beat this and I will, I keep telling myself every day and tell others around me also even people I don’t know very well, if anything they admire my determination, but I’m not doing it for nothing, we are all doing it to win. Now it’s so ingrained I don’t have room for self-doubt because
I say it so often. Bad day yesterday but much better today. Thanks Howard for sharing. Thinking of you all fighting for that finishing line.
Much love Rick😀😀😀
Much needed advice warmly welcomed this morning as I woke feeling down. Recipe done earlier this morning as I am decorating. The 10 min. meditation went so quick I thought I had put the timer on 5 mins. Feeling more positive now. Thank you Howard. Much love to you all.
Hi Ray, delighted to see you posting again as when I read the blog each week, I read Ricks post and always check for you as you are both only a matter of a week apart, from starting the recipe . You both are so determined and never complain as you are so focused. I predict that either of you will be our next recovery. 😊
Keep on being strong. Big Love from your fellow Irish pal..
Thank you Karen for your kind words. It warms my heart to know I am not alone. I try not to get too excited when I have a good day as the next day PD just comes back to say: fooled you. As Howard once said: it is like waiting for a parcel from Amazon. You know it will come eventually. I like Howard also find joy in sudden new pains. If we keep following his advice we will ALL succeed. Much love from Mayo. One day our team will also win the Sam. We need more desire. xx
…what if tomorrow I wake up cured from parkinsons?
…then parkinsons will answer, what if it does not?
…then what if it’s the day after tomorrow, I’ll wake up cured from parkinsons.
…then parkinsons will answer again, what if it does not?
…then what if it’s the day after tomorrow, I’ll wake up cured from parkinsons.
…then parkinsons will answer again, what if it does not?
…then what if it’s the day after tomorrow, I’ll wake up cured from parkinsons.
Be relentless!
Negativity can be overwhelming…but yes, be RELENTLESS!!!
I am going with “What if my recovery is just around the corner”
The statistics say 1% of the population will get Parkinsons, my Datscan said there was a 90% probability I had Parkinsons so doesn’t that mean there is a 10% likelihood I don’t???? I believe that statistic is thrown out because traditional medicine are covering themselves for the recoveries they can’t explain and that number would be much higher if everyone newly diagnosed was not put on medication and told they had an incurable disease. Can you imagine how much different the number would be if everyone was given “The Recipe for Recovery” upon their diagnosis????
So I already have defied the odds 1:100 by getting Parkinsons I’m going for Plan A
100% recovery because I AM WORTH IT
Lots of love and healing to my fellow warriors xoxox
Hi Margaret, I agree with you especially about how the neurologists automatically put you on medication the minute you are given a diagnosis. I was diagnosed in early 2012. When the neurologist started to tell me about the drug he was starting me on, it was priceless to see his face when I said that I would not be medicating. An entire “ team “ was called in. 😊 . I went down the alternative path for four years but lost three stone in weight very quickly towards the end of 2016 and could barely function, so I had to go on medication. I avoided levodopa drugs for two years but had to give in in 2018 to it. I loved the ease of movement but something didn’t feel right. I ended up being allergic to levodopa, ironic or what? Now I am back on the non levodopa drugs which don’t give me much in the way of movement but I thank God every day for what I can do and in my heart I know I am healing and being healed by the spirit of God within me. I do as much of the recipe that I can, as Howard would say, my best is good enough.
Yes Margaret I too believe it would be a gift if people upon diagnosis were given Howard’s roadmap to recovery.😊
Keep up your lovely warm-hearted attitude each week in your posts.
Big love 💕 Karen xx
Thanks for telling your story, Karen. Extremely interesting. I was diagnosed in 2015 and, like you, I didn’t want to go on medication from the start. So, when my neurologist started talking treatment options, I listened politely, with no intention of walking away with a prescription. She suggested starting me off on rasagiline, which she explained blocks the enzyme that breaks down dopamine. No way would I entertain it until I’d googled the side effects. Then there were dopamine agonists which worked by stimulating the part of the brain affected by Parkinson’s. Later on, we might look at levodopa which turns into dopamine … I wasn’t feeling any enthusiasm for these drugs. In fact, I was thinking, I’ll stick to the cider, thanks. That is always my best medication.
I stuck to my guns at every subsequent neurology appointment. Then in November last year, she said she and the physios agreed that only medication could help me now.
She said I was beyond the stage for prescribing dopamine agonists, which, at any rate, had a whole host of side effects and some addictive properties. She didn’t even know how well levodopa would work, since she had never had a patient who had stayed off medication for as long as me (5½ years).
The reason I had to start taking it in December (Christmas carols for some; Co-Careldopa for me) was that I had almost completely lost my balance and was suffering massively from retropulsions and kept slamming my back into electric plugs and falling violently backwards, on one occasion smashing my head on the ceramic floor tiles in the kitchen. I can tell you, I was a martyr to arnica. By this stage, my sister had also borrowed a wheelchair for me and my nephew’s ex-wife wheeled me along the canal towpath on Christmas Day. I thought my life was over.
After a few weeks, the medication kicked in to improve my balance about 80% (or, it could be that the Recipe did it, and it just coincided), and I stopped falling and resumed walking. When I say ‘walking’ you know what I mean – what passes for walking with Parkinson’s.
The medication does nothing for my tremors and it’s very cheery to know that dementia is a common side effect. BUT, I won’t be on it forever. Like all of us on Howard’s website, I have chosen his way; the path less travelled. And like Rick says this week, we’re in it to win.
It sounds like you’ve fought a courageous battle with drugs and I hope your recovery comes quickly. You deserve it!
“I defied the odds 1:100 by getting Parkinsons” so why shouldn’t we do the same by recovering? I love that logic, Margaret!
Hi Howard, enjoyed this post. I am always drawn to easy to remember posts. 😊 A similar technique is when someone asks you a question and you are not sure 🤔 of an answer, you repeat the question back to them. Great in interview situation. Lol.
I am waffling……. so you can well imagine my adrenaline minds activity rate. 🤪
Hope everyone is having a successful week.
Big Love 💕
Karen xx
And WHAT IF I live THIS day in complete Joy and Gratitude for this opportunity? 😍
I like your certainty, Howard, even though you can offer no guarantees. It encourages me to think it’s a question of when, not if, I recover from Parkinson’s. As an NHS podiatrist told me last week (yes, a podiatrist!): ‘Your guru is the one who leads you from darkness into light.’ So, you are my Parkinson’s guru, Howard. But I think it takes faith in God as well to wipe out the negative what-ifs and, at times, I have a broken connection in belief because that ‘fear and trepidation’ you mentioned suck me back into the darkness. When you talk about living from the heart and soul for the past 11 years, it sounds like living with the fairies! I don’t mean that in a derogatory way; I think there’s a very real sense in which healing involves reverting to our innocent child heart.
Yes, this is the point: affirmations and no doubts….easier said than done, but we
start again!! Thanks dear Howard!!
I am a relatively new kid on this block and it’s nice to join all of you! I’ve been doing the Recipe since July. Years ago, a teacher gave me some very good advice and I have since made an acronym out of it: TENIAP. It’s sort of like my secret code word. 🙂 Can you guess what it stands for? Turn Every Negative Into A Positive!
Thank you for sharing with us a good tool to use relentlessly against negative thoughts. I’m surprised at how many negative thoughts I have when I try to be positive thinking. Thank you Howard for being the light. ♥️
Can you lose totally your ego mind?
We have to paddle with insight and good intentions to cross the river of old habits and negativity. Don’t lose sight even when the waves are high.
We can do it.
All because of Howard is our proof!
I have been telling myself positive affirmations for a while now and thanking my neurons whenever I have a good day
Howard,
That last paragraph about
losing your mind is critical for me.
I routinely allow my mind
To distract me with worldly matters.
I need to watch the movie Harvey again.
That initial scene where Elwood tears up his
Special delivery letter and tosses it to the
wind is priceless! Oh, to be so carefree again!!!
Love to all,
Elwood
The message in Howard’s blog is “I need to turn negative thoughts by the ego mind into POSITIVE thoughts by the Dopamine mind”. I must Learn to live from the Heart and Soul.
Thanks Howard and Love to All Warriors out there.
Thank you Howard. The ego mind can get in the way of feeling alive in the heart. We must be relentless in dealing with the ego mind.
Thanks Howard, this is brilliant! I have used the ‘what if’ ….. following with positive statement without the negative ‘what if’ and it works like charm! Keeps my imagination, hope and faith high and I have fun creating positive ‘what if’ .”… thanks again
Love,
Ola