Accept your Cancer

DISCOVER YOUR BELIEFS

Literally thousands of cancer survivors radically change their beliefs about cancer and about life. Many consider this to be the most fundamental aspect of healing with the mind. This idea ought to have a central place in your own recovery efforts.  Attitudes have to do with one's state of mind, with one's mental habits. Beliefs are something different; they convictions, the implications of certainty surrounding mental positions.

There are three widely held beliefs that work against overcoming cancer:

1.      A diagnosis of cancer means certain death.

2.      The treatment program for cancer is drastic, is of questionable effectiveness, and involves many unpleasantries.

3.      This situation "just happened" to me and therefore there is little I can do to influence it.

All of these beliefs are untrue! The truth about these statements is:

1.      Cancer, no matter how advanced, may or may not mean death.

2.      A wide range of treatments do exist. They have the potential to be effective. The difficulties in recovery are far outweighed by the benefits.

3.      Most illnesses do not "just happen." On several levels, our ability to influence health, either positively or negatively, is at work.

These truths can work for you in your recovery. Your response to a problem is more powerful than the problem itself. There is much you can do.

Do beliefs actually affect recovery? Consider this. Beliefs and expectations constantly contribute to actual experience in all areas of life, including the experience of cancer. If we believe a rainy day means gloom, gloom is what we experience.

Certainly it's a long way from rainy days to cancer recovery. But this much is clear: beliefs can be changed, and new beliefs can be chosen. The trouble is, we seldom consciously choose them. Perhaps beliefs have simply been accepted by us for many years, like the conventional wisdom surrounding cancer. Perhaps we had beliefs imposed on us from parents, co-workers, or friends. Perhaps they were picked up from other people's beliefs and were made our own. They may or may not be true or helpful. But these beliefs have significant power.

Awareness of your fundamental beliefs is often the first, and certainly one of the most dramatic ways to improve your circumstances. If you are harboring the belief that cancer means death, challenge it! The fact is there are long-term survivors of every type of cancer, including many patients who have been told by doctors that there was no hope.

An Important Thing You Can Do

Analyze your beliefs. In your Wellness and Recovery Journal, complete the following sentences with the first thoughts/feelings that come to mind:

1.      When I think of my cancer diagnosis, my thought is

2.      I believe my cancer treatment is      

3.      The one thing I believe would best help me is          

Analyze how your beliefs align with the truth. Talk to others who have successfully traveled the cancer journey. Discover what they believe. Vow to change your self-limiting beliefs today.