The power of thought
Living with cancer has its ups and downs and discoveries and trials that’s for sure. All along I’ve promised myself I want to make it a positive experience no matter what happens or what I’m feeling and that’s not always been as straight forward as I thought it could be. The keyword being thought. A small word, just seven letters, but one that holds such power over us humans. Thought is like some kind of powerful magnet that attracts our feelings and our emotions to us from the inside out. The thought machine is always bubbling away in the back ground programmed, watching what we see or do. It never switches off, there is no plug, the only way we can pull the plug is when we are no more.
Thought & Cancer
Every thought determines how I’m going to feel, thoughts and feelings go together like bread and butter or the old song love and marriage you can’t have one with out the other😀. Thoughts and feelings are a little bit like that. Someone asked me on one of my calming your anxious mind workshops that I used to run a few years ago “hey Woody what comes first the thought or the feeling” well I’m still pondering that one. Perhaps they are just the same thing. What I do know is that the pair of them have controlled my experience of living with my cancer so far. The quality of a person’s life is judged directly by the quality of their thinking, I read that somewher and have to say it’s damm straight true.
Being diagnosed with cancer opens up a world of thoughts, at the beginning most of those thoughts are not good. Over the months they have changed and often I catch myself thinking strong powerful thoughts. I’m convinced that each positive and powerful thought I have has a direct effect on my cancer more so than any medication can ever do. Sure I’m terrified and negative at times but that’s only when I let a thought or feeling about being terrified come in. You can name any emotion and to be absolutely sure behind every emotional word you chose there has to be a thought or feeling attached to it. Perhaps all three are one and the same thing. The three musketeers of life, thoughts feelings and emotions just like a three legged stool you can’t balance life properly if you take one away.
It’s been such a tough learning curve these last 7 or 8 months since I found out that I have cancer. Prostate cancer is a strange animal, once it’s got its claws in you it attacks in so many ways both mentally and physically. The treatment as I’ve said before is mentally tough to cope with, ive seen myself change from a red blooded man to something very different not quite man any more just something in between. But it can be overcome, that’s for sure. My thinking controls it, my thoughts decide what I’m going to experience day to day. It brings a sense of relief and calm knowing that for now anyway my thoughts are strong and positive and I’ve got this part of the situation under control.
A Lovely Walk
Today I went for a lovely walk with my sister and Wolfie her rescued Greyhound dog . I had a smile on my face the whole time. It was one of those people often describe as a day to live for, the weather was as about perfect as it can get. Comfortably warm, not hot, just right. A day that was made for strolling, just taking it easy no stress and taking every moment in, breathing and feeling every part of it like a gift to be treasured to the end of time. The world was smiling and people were responding. So many people said hello and a few stopped to pat Wolfie. He has something about him almost a kind of majesty he’s sweet and kind despite being treated so terribly during his racing days by his humans. When my sister got Wolfie he was almost starved to death, I don’t understand how anyone can be unkind to a dog. Now he’s developed into a fine dog thanks to the love of his new family❤️. I believe he was meant to have found them and lives his days in peace and love thanks to the universe putting them together.🙏
Some great news
Today I found out my latest PSA score for the month, wow another month has just dissapeared in the blink of an eye. Blink and you will miss it, thats how fast its flying by right now. Like a dandelion loosing all of its seeds the months scatter and fly past. When I started the hormone therapy I didn’t realise I would be measuring my life by each month, each month is another let off from the grim reaper. It’s difficult to explain it any other way. As long as that PSA score keeps low I’m good for another month. The sad thing is it won’t stay low forever, this type of cancer won’t just go away forever just by the drugs, eventually it will find a way to become resistant to the drugs.. So I’ve got to keep looking at new ways to beat it. By the way my PSA score this month is 0.01, this means it’s barely traceable and is fantastic and with relief I’m good for another month. I didn’t think so much about the PSA score this month in fact I completely forgot to call the hospital for my result. What will be will be as they say. I’m learning to stop worrying about it each month and just taking it as it comes, not letting it control me. I can’t control what’s not controllable. I do know one thing and that is I won’t stop trying and learning new ways to beat this thing that has moved in with me like some kind of unwelcome lodger no matter what it takes.
List of stuff I’m now doing
Ok where do I begin , I don’t know if this list will help someone else one day or if one day it won’t even be necessary as a silver bullet is found to cure my cancer or indeed all cancer. Well this is my list, most of its not that radical and who knows if it makes a differenc all I know that if it doesn’t then nobody can say that I didn’t fight. Something I’ve believed in from the beginning is that if I’m going to stand any chance of beating some pretty high odds against me then I’m going to have to change myself from the inside out. That includes what I put inside of myself what I do to myself and possibly the most important one is how I think about everything. So I’m the same Woody from the outside but I’m changed person on the inside. It’s all an experiment and to be honest what other choices do I really have if I’m going to beat this then I need to take action in many ways and this list is kind of what I’m trying to do.
My daily regime
- Wim hof breathing method and cold showers
- Walking at least 6000 steps a day depending on what my body will let me do, lately it’s become easier to achieve this😀
- Vegan diet mostly fruit and veg and salads
- 2 fruit and veg shakes a day breakfast & lunch
- Meditation at least 30 minutes per day
- Vitamin supplements
- Tumeric supplements
- Drinking at least 2 ltrs of filtered water a day
- Drinking 3 cups of green tea a day
- No alcohol and no caffeine and as least amount of sugar as I can
- At least 8 hours of sleep a night or day if needed
- Daily mantra (see previous blogs)
- Positive mindset – most important
- Feeling grateful and appreciative for everything every day
- Being kind to people when ever I get the chance.
- Smiling and laughing
Is it working?
Well there you go that’s my daily battle plan, I’ll probably add to it as time goes by and I find new ideas to put into action. I might even take something off the list. I guess when I look at the list, for me it’s a radical change in my lifestyle. I firmly believe though that things are going in the right direction. Is it a coincidence that since I started the Wim hof breathing and daily cold showers about ten days ago.now that my pain levels for the first time for a year are nearly at an all time low, I’m even reducung the number of pain killers with no Ill affects so far and I feel different to. Tonight I looked at myself in the mirror and smiled and said to myself we are winning this you know. It’s a feeling I can’t quite put my finger exactly on it and maybe it’s a tease from my cancer letting me believe it’s going away, who really knows? I just have this growing feeling that things are changing and that some kind of good has taken over, well at least for now, we shall see. Anyway whatever I shall carry on doing what I’m doing untill I either can’t do it any more or there is no need to do it anymore. I can’t help feeling very positive as I write this I just hope it’s not a false dawn and I wake up in a few days with the cancer back in charge. “Hey Woody I’m back, just been for a bit of a vacation but now I’m back, have you missed me”? I’ll take over from here.😥
It’s now the end of another week. Has it really been another week already! Lots to be positive about and lots to be grateful for. Perhaps as I write this my overiding thought tonight is where is the the time going. It seems just a few weeks ago I was having a chat with the oncologist on what was my outcome from this cancer considering it was caught pretty late, 2 to 5 years was the best case scenario. That was 8 months ago, I do wish it would slow down a bit I can’t help feeling I’m living with this sword of Damocles hanging over me just waiting to strike. Must keep up the positive stuff even more now. I must make the most of the time I have and not waste it on regrets.
Until the next time, thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope in some small way that it’s helping some people out there who are going through their own challenges in life. Keep smiling be kind be grateful and stay positive no matter what
Love Woody ❤️
Men please check your risk of Prostate Cancer by clicking on the link below. I wish I had known about this a year ago.😥
https://prostatecanceruk.org/risk-checker.
