Last month, I made a big push with my November to Remember, No Excuses November, 30-day challenge 2021 to do a modified version of the Parkinson’s Recipe for Recovery® for 30 days. The 30 days ended yesterday, November 30, 2021. So, what’s next? Where do you go from here?
Yesterday was November 30, 2021 and today is December 1, 2021. We have a way of putting labels and limits on our lives based upon what somebody at some previous time decided was correct. Theoretically, if somebody’s decision had been different, today would be November 31, 2021. What I am trying to point out to you is that much of what we think is real is a script written by somebody else, and we have been following the script and its rules without question.
If you want to be cured of Parkinson’s, then today, you need to begin breaking the rules, clearing out the illusions, and writing your own script of where you want to go in your life and your recovery. It is time to choose to start truly being your cure and living your cure!
When I became cured of Parkinson’s, I stopped doing the physical part of the Recipe because I no longer needed it. However, the mental and spiritual lessons I learned in my recovery have carried forward for the last eleven and a half years as how I live my life…I live my cure in the way I live my life.
Okay! Grab some faith. Faith says “I know I am going to be cured of Parkinson’s, and I will do the Parkinson’s Recipe for Recovery® every day until I am cured!” That’s it! So, what are you doing in this December 1st moment NOW?
Ask yourself, what did I learn during the November Challenge? Did you learn to accept that when doing the physical part of the Recipe, your best is good enough? Did you learn each day to meditate and calm your mind a little? Did you learn to make a gratitude list that you can look back upon and be grateful and joyful?
Did you learn that it felt so good to do the Recipe, to set aside that time for yourself, to stay off of the Internet and not be researching things that you are not doing and that never have cured a person from Parkinson’s, and to make a gratitude list, and that these are the things you are continuing to do in this December 1st moment NOW? Good for you!!! Keep it going.
Baby steps. November was 30 days in life. Life keeps going and it is a continuing journey. When you were young, you took baby steps and were joyful about them…”Look at me, I am walking.” Do you look at your walking now and complain how poor it is or difficult it is?
How about looking at each thing you did in November and each thing you are doing now as baby steps in this December 1st present moment NOW, and be joyful…”Look at me, I am _____!” (Fill in the blank and be joyful about whatever it is you are doing). Even if you are relaxing and sitting and doing nothing at all…”Look at me, I am sitting here doing nothing at all, and that is okay. I am joyful!” That is faith!!
Where is your mind? Is it looking back at November thinking good thoughts? Is it looking back at November thinking self-criticizing thoughts about how you did with the 30-day challenge or whether you did it at all? Is it looking forward with excitement? Is it looking forward with fear?
As you can see, the mind pulls you away from what is going on in this December 1st moment NOW! What is going on right now is you are reading this post with your fellow travelers on this path to your cure…be in the moment, gather strength and perseverance from each other, connect to each other through the Universal energy…draw energy from inside yourself, share it with the others, and draw their energy into you as you feel this December 1st moment, NOW!
And smile. We all are in this life together. We are drawn here together for a reason. Being as we all are here together, why not make the most of it and help ourselves by helping each other.
Where is your mind? When you are sharing the Universal energy with each other, bringing yourself into this December 1st moment NOW, and feeling each other’s love and compassion, you cannot answer the question “where is your mind,” because your mind leaves, and your heart and soul control the moment.
Yes, when you are in this December 1st moment NOW, you are in your heart and soul, and for that flicker in the moment NOW, your mind does not exist in the past or in the future…there is no judgment, no regret, no criticism, no fear…no deceptive, illusion-filled, Adrenaline-driven mind.
In this December 1st moment NOW, as we gather together and feel each other’s presence, there is love, joy, compassion, contentment, gratitude, forgiveness, happiness, and simply being. That is living your cure, NOW!
Where is my mind? I do not know. I am in my heart and soul, NOW.
Where is your mind? The more you are in your heart and soul, in the moment NOW, the more you will be able to answer the question “where is your mind?” with the answer “I do not know.”
Today is December 1, 2021. How about that. What are you doing in this December 1st moment NOW?
How about letting go of your over-thinking mind in favor of your loving, compassionate heart and soul. How about making the commitment to yourself to cure yourself from Parkinson’s, and then living your cure in all you do, physically, mentally, and spiritually…joyfully taking baby steps, one step at a time, and feeling in your heart: “Look at me. I am special simply because I exist in this moment NOW!”
You can do this. I know you can!
You are worth it!!!
All my best,
Howard
Hi Howard, thank you for the encouraging words. GOD bless you.
First of all, Howard, thank you for giving us the November challenge and keeping us focused with your regular bulletins. It also meant a lot that Marie chose to celebrate her milestone anniversary with us and to remind us that recovery is real; people have already done it so we can as well, even if it doesn’t feel like it at times (a lot of the time, if I’m honest, but when I’m in Rick mode, I’m rocking it!) By the way, Rick, congratulations on fitting the new engine in your yacht in the rain. My equivalent would be putting an A4 sheet in a poly pocket. LOL.
Honestly, though, I love reading these snippets which lift my fellow warriors off the page. Like, when Uwe wrote about the irony of being the sole resident to use the stairs to get to the 14th floor, as the only one with Parkinson’s. It gives you an idea of the person behind the story.
I agree with you, Howard, that feeling each other’s presence brings positive benefits. For me, it is a joyous enhancement of doing the Recipe.
A good example of this was when Karen pointed out that she and I were only six minutes apart in sending you our Thanksgiving Day wishes. I think I was sitting up quite late and when I realised that Karen was too, and sharing the same thought, I felt simpatico. All the moment lacked was a table and two ciders between us! Also, Karen, I have you to thank for making me stick to my resolution to do 10 repetitions of the MQFTL twice a day because when I was flagging I thought about you saying it was a very impressive target and I couldn’t face coming back to the blog and admitting I’d flunked it. But thank you to everyone who contributes comments, including Chris M who writes a lot of sense (beautifully). I appreciate every word and value being part of a fraternity that is mutually supportive. Again, Howard, thanks for giving us this platform and these friends of the heart. I am grateful.
Thanks Val for your contribution and support ! Good on you for increasing your repetitions of the MQFTL twice a day ! Go young lady 😊😊
Thank you Howard for your December 1 powerful energizer and motivator for keeping up and keeping on! I feel I have just ingested the most powerful energy pill that will continue to work on me for the rest of December and then onwards into the New Year! Howard has created here this loving, compassionate, caring, and one for all and all for one kindred spirit! I appreciate Val H for your contribution in this post and supporting and motivating all of us. I do the same for you with joined hands in front of my heart!
Howard, I am doing your program and mixing it with my own Yoga program. Result is all joy and progress every day!
You express yourself beautifully, Vijai. Good vibe a-coming, thank you. Val
Beautiful 😍 😘
Dear Howard,
Many thanks for your strong encouragement. I don’t know what we would do without it.
Thank you everybody for all your comments. Thank you Howard for your posts. It makes me feel less alone. It makes me feel proud and strong to be with such powerful warriors. There’s been several times lately where I thought I’m done I’ve got it all figured out and then there comes another life lesson that I am faced with. As we are all faced with. The biggest takeaway I have is what Howard has pointed out, many many times to me, live in the NOW, that is all we have. Living in a fearful future is a toxic place to go. So I took a short hike this afternoon in the beautiful snowy woods with my friend and my dogs, and I was grateful. And I felt at peace. Nature is a most powerful healer. Let us keep all moving forward.
Howard, thank you for the November challenge and motivation for the December challenge. I have been doing the full version of the Parkinson’s Recipe for recovery and will continue doing so until I improve my gait, stiffness and fully recover.
Thank you for your motivation and support you have been giving us with your regular weekly blogs.
So I should quit worrying about what to
do with the rest of my life after recovery?
That is all built into a full
Recovery!
Just live life from a new and healthier
vantage point.
Hello Everyone,
Thank you so much Howard for believing in us and injecting your encouragement. It means so much. Tonight was one of those nights when you wake up at 1:30 AM and can’t go back to sleep. You guys have all been there. So it is a great time to live in the moment and plan a new recipe for my husband tomorrow. With that said I am so grateful as he has asked me to play golf with him on Monday, The weather is going to be just perfect in SC at 70 degrees. I am so looking forward to celebrating my best movements for the day ahead. Wow, life is beautiful. Let’s celebrate TODAY together!