A blogging friend of mine and I were chatting yesterday, and she reminded me of why I have this blog in the first place. That conversation instantly reminded me of this article I posted just over a year ago, so I shared it with a few of you on Facebook last night.
Oh my. The comments have not stopped coming.
I am so thankful, and happy, that this article is inspiring you, because THAT IS the reason for this blog.
To help. To inspire. To nudge you along. To remind you to Never Stop Believing Because I know you can do it. Together, we can do anything we set our minds to.
Here is the original post, with a different photo. I hope it inspires you as much as it inspires me.
Image courtesy of Clare Bell.
Years Ago I Helped Someone
I mean really, really helped someone.
It all started innocently enough with one of my first blogs. It was a blog I created about Positive Thinking, and I wrote a post about Nocebos. (If you’ve never heard of a Nocebo – it’s just like a Placebo, only the opposite – quite ugly, and destructive even.)
The title of the post was something along the lines of Be Careful of Your Thoughts.
One day I received a comment on that post from a woman who wanted to know if that was so true (that negative thoughts can have negative consequences) then why was she still alive, as she had been wishing herself dead for years.
Oh boy. My first thought was either I had a troll, or a certified nutcase. But neither was true…. I had someone who was reaching out to me. And she was in pain.
Unimaginable Pain
I replied back to her, and soon a thread of comments led to an even longer email chain. We became friends, and as it turns out she had a medical condition that left her in unimaginable pain, pretty much 24 hrs a day, 365 days a year. Imagine the worst migraine you’ve ever had, and it never ends….. Ever.
You see my new friend had a brain tumor, and it was inoperable.
She pretty much told me she had tried everything that was available, but nothing had worked,. She also had reached a point where she had taken so many pain pills, that they too, were making her sick…. so she stopped completely.
Now she just lived with the pain….and wished herself dead,
And by some sheer chance, luck, fate? she happened upon my blog.
How You Think is Everything
I want to interrupt my story here for a second, and redirect you to a post by famed nutritionist Jeff Novick. At the time I was emailing my friend, I had no idea who Jeff was, or even what a plant-based, whole foods diet even was. Nevertheless, years after I became Vegan, I read this post he wrote in 1999 and it floored me.
You see – THIS POST summed up everything I was trying to say in that old blog.
His post goes like this:
HOW YOU THINK IS EVERYTHING: Always be positive. Think success, not failure. Beware of a negative environment. In order to be healthy, you must believe that you can, that you can do what it takes, and that you have the resources available to you. A healthy attitude also has a positive effect on the body. If you believe it, you will see it. Thoughts held in mind, produce after their own kind.
Now I know some of you will see this as some fluffy, new agey, mumbo jumbo. But I’m here to tell you that this is TRUE. Your thoughts are so much more important than you’ll ever realize. They can make or break you. They can make you sick, and they can also heal you too. Yep – just your thoughts. But first, you gotta BELIEVE.
Like Jeff said, if you believe it, THEN you’ll see it.
I know this runs counter to probably everything you’ve ever heard in life, but the concept has been around since before time. It’s even in the Bible.
If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth Mark 9:23
So if you’re sitting there wondering if this new diet will actually cure your Diabetes, or if you’ll ever bring that blood pressure down, or avoid that heart attack, remember this post.
Anything is possible, if you’ll only believe it.
….now back to the story.
Healing Comes From Within
Now it just so happens that at that time I was a big supporter of alternative medicine. I still am. This is one of the main reasons I became Vegan. I want to be in control of my health, not farm it out to some doctor and take a ton of pills.
So when I was emailing my friend with the brain tumor, I just happened to have read a post on an alternative treatment for pain. It’s called EFT – or as it’s commonly known, ‘tapping’. It involves using the Chinese Pressure Points. It also involves a lot of faith. I asked if she had ever heard of it. No, she said, and it sounded kinda goofy. But…she was willing at this point to try anything.
She emailed me the next day and told me she found a local practitioner and had made an appointment. I told her to stay positive and give it a chance.
The next email is one I will never forget as long as I live
I received that email from my friend the very next day, and I could tell she was literally crying as she wrote it. I could almost see the tears of joy dripping off my monitor.
The pain was gone. Completely.
She was finally, after all of these years, pain-free.
So what cured her? Was it the treatment? Maybe – maybe not. Maybe it was just finally getting to the REAL issue of her pain, something that had been lurking on the inside, that the treatment was finally able to get to and release. I also think her belief played a big part. Her belief and trust in me that it was even possible. Remember she was suicidal when we first started texting. And now, just a few short weeks later, she was healed.
And this, my friends, is why I blog.
That moment didn’t just make my day, this made my life. I knew right then and there that I would to be a blogger for the rest of my life and help as many people as I could. Sadly, due to the financial bomb that went off in 2008 I had to eventually let that blog go, but I never forgot it,or my friend.
It took quite a few years for me to recover financially, but here I am again, and the blogging urge is just as strong.
The moral of this story and the point I want to stress to all of you?
Never Stop Believing
Believe. Believe in yourself. Believe you can change. And NEVER stop believing.
I know from reading several popular forums out there, that there are many of you with health conditions, and you’re looking for answers. For whatever reason you have come to a plant-based diet as a last chance to get healthy.
It will work, if you believe.
Your friends may laugh, your parents will be concerned, your doctor may warn you against it. There will be a million reasons for you to not stick to it.
But remember:
HOW YOU THINK IS EVERYTHING.
Always be positive. Think success, not failure. Beware of a negative environment. In order to be healthy, you must believe that you can, that you can do what it takes, and that you have the resources available to you. A healthy attitude also has a positive effect on the body. If you believe it, you will see it.
Hang in there, stay positive, and believe.
Miracles DO happen.
