There are moments when you are frightened, when it seems cancer may be getting the upper hand, and when it seems all hope is gone. These thoughts were written for those moments.
Can the human mind and spirit really affect the body? Certainly. After Greg Anderson was diagnosed with lung cancer and given 30 days to live, he went in search of cancer patients who had lived when they were supposed to die. Here, in summary, is the core survival beliefs he found.
You, too, can conquer cancer!
Believe . . .
1. I am in CHARGE Of My CANCER, My CANCER IS NOT IN CHARGE OF ME. I am the person ultimately responsible for my choice of treatments. I manage my treatment team. Beyond the physical, I also manage the emotional, psychological and spiritual components of my health. All play crucial roles in my total treatment program. I am personally responsible for these choices. I am in charge.
2. CANCER IS A REVERSIBLE DISEASE! Cancer is not an automatic death sentence. Others have reversed their cancer, so might I. In fact, cancer is made up of weak and confused cells. It is not an all-powerful disease. Even the statistics acknowledge there are many survivours, and I choose to learn from them.
3. My TREATMENT is EFFECTIVE and HAS MINIMAL SIDE EFFECTS. Cancer treatments are becoming less invasive and more effective each and every day. I have confidence in my treatment choices; they are my friends. A friend wouldn’t harm me. My side-effects are minimized by my positive expectations.
4. My IMMUNE SYSTEM is POWERFUL. Right in my own body is the mortal enemy of cancer cells. It is natural for me to “heal from within,” and my medical treatment is in support of my body’s own healing power. My body knows how to get well!
5. My BODY, and THUS My IMMUNE SYSTEM, is AFFECTED by My MIND and by My SPIRIT. My body responds in kind to my mental and spiritual choices. Even though my body may have cancer, my mind and my spirit “have cancer” only if I allow it. I positively influence my body by positively managing my mind and my spirit.
6. My MIND and My SPIRIT are AFFECTED by My EMOTIONS. Stress, my emotional reaction to life’s events, can confuse my mind, depress my spirit, and result in suppression of my immune function. But I can choose my emotions, my emotions do not choose me, and I choose hope.
7. CANCER is a MESSAGE to CHANGE. Life is a loving teacher. There is a lesson in cancer. What is it teaching me? Do I need to change my lifestyle? Might I need to resolve emotional conflicts? Do I need a spiritual tune-up? I am changing now.
8. PEACE is the GOAL. Peace means transcending my fears in order to nurture a deep inner harmony. Not to be confused with lethargy, personal peace is active, creating a positive environment for healing. Peace is independent from physical condition.
9. GENUINE PEACE COMES from UNDERSTANDING THERE is a GOD WHO KNOWS ME and LOVES ME, AND GOD LOVES ME even THOUGH GOD KNOWS ME. There is a Higher Power to whom I am known and by whom I am loved. I am loved even when my behaviour doesn’t match my potential. Even though I am imperfect, I am acceptable! This knowledge heals my entire life.
10. I BELIEVE I BECOME a CANCER CONQUEROR NOT BECAUSE I GO INTO REMISSION, but BECAUSE I BECOME a NEW PERSON. The cancer journey becomes a personal spiritual transformation. As I make the qualities of love, joy and peace real in my daily life, I indeed conquer cancer – - and perhaps even cure it.
THE CANCER SURVIVAL PYRAMID
The Cancer Recovery Foundation of Canada (CRFC), is a non-profit educational organization whose mission is to educate, empower, and encourage cancer patients and family members in the integration of body-mind-spirit into a whole-person health recovery strategy. At Cancer Recovery Foundation of Canada, we believe that it is the combination of modern science with holistic healing wisdom that produces optimal healing.
CRFC’s healing model emphasizes six areas for focus including: physical, mental, social, emotional, vocational, and spiritual. This healing model emphasizes the uniqueness of each person and is grounded in the conviction that all of us have largely untapped healing power.
