What Does Cancer Awareness Mean to You?
When I was diagnosed my perspective of “Cancer Awareness” changed. After embracing a natural approach to healing, my view changed even more, and now helping others, my perspective continues to evolve.
Cancer awareness to me means recognizing warning signs and symptoms and taking some type of action, but not ANY type of action. I believe cancer should be addressed as naturally and non-invasively as possible. We can’t fight destruction with worse destruction. This also means guarding against misdiagnosis, and overtreatment, which can be just as scary as cancer. Cancer is so horrible we are willing to do anything to “fight” it, but on the other hand, those cancer cells are our own cells adjusted to an internal terrain that has become inhospitable. Our cells, yet some of us are killed trying to kill them off. This is especially tragic when cut and burn treatments can be avoided, or at least aren't the only option.
Cancer awareness to me means acknowledging that cancer is big business. Whether its expensive treatments or searching for a cure, it’s industry. Yet the average person considers it a product of humanity and never questions where the money goes. Seeing the business side of cancer can be difficult but when we start noticing the marketing and exploitation happening, we start seeing fear tactics used to get us to rush into treatments or make more donations and the underlying greed becomes apparent. While there are no doubt some well-meaning people in the cancer industry, cancer as we know it is manufactured. Once we recognize this reality, we can exercise greater caution with our care. We can also liberate ourselves from the commercialized idea of cancer before we become a part of it, or worse, a victim to it.
Cancer awareness to me is about recognizing our collective motivations, our fears, our disfunction, the symptoms and behaviors in our society that lead to the disease of cancer. Especially the chronic “dis-ease” we ignore. It’s about seeing how increased sickness including cancer is creeping into our culture and how compassion for ourselves and alignment with nature can help reverse this process. It’s about having eyes open to the fear that can drive us and cloud our decisions. It’s about seeing the change we can be for humanity, for the environment, and for our bodies everyday through the choices we make. Ideally, it’s our focusing on prevention so that cancer might be avoided all together especially in our younger generations.
Cancer awareness to me is about not identifying with the label of a cancer diagnosis and it’s about remembering that we as individuals are not our disease. The psychology around what cancer represents both personally and socially is strong, so having an open mind and seeking insight into various perspectives and possibilities surrounding a diagnosis is key in getting beyond it. Expanding our viewpoint around what it really means and doesn’t mean to be diagnosed with cancer is crucial because our perspective varies depending on our background and outlook, what we read, who we talk to and how much credit we give our source. The idea of a death sentence, or any other construct, or notion that is fear-based, or blindly perpetuated can quite probably limit our future more than disease itself. Avoiding rigid ideas and shifting our mindset after diagnosis can expand our options and give us greater optimism about our situation, reveal how we might have an impact on our ability to regain health and expose endless possibilities for a future.
Cancer awareness to me is about shifting our attention from cancer to taking actions towards recovery and envisioning our future so we can get clearer on our desire to live healthfully and with purpose. As we do so we become empowered and the terror of cancer is no longer OUR terror. We claim our growth and expansion, we ignite our truth and align with nature. Cancer no longer paralyzes us or predicts our outcome. We get to rewrite our story with more possibility than ever before, with what we want for our future, with a definite plan for reversing our disease, not ignoring the uncertainty of life but embracing ourselves as a conscious creator and someone that chooses healing from a place of empowerment not a place of defeat or desperation.
Cancer awareness to me is considering various perspectives and asking layered questions. Why do I have this disease? What if I do things differently? What if my body is a powerful healer? How can I shift my mindset around what I think cancer is? How can I take charge of my experience? What if my outcome is not what I am being told and much better than I can imagine? How is my emotional energy connected to my physical being? What if I consciously worked on healing? What would change if I put my trust in nature? What if I could change my internal terrain and my body could heal itself? These types of questions and what we do with them can lead us to greater consciousness about our situation and help us believe in the impact we can have.
Cancer awareness to me is about proactive and protective measures that help return the body to its most optimal natural state of health. When we focus on natural foods and embracing health holistically the body does what it’s intended to do, self-heal. It’s about trusting in the perfection of or natural human design. When we have faith in this process, when we see the value in believing in nature and approaching our recovery both physically and spiritually, a greater capacity for healing becomes possible. Allowing the body to operate within natural law, knowing it IS nature, and knowing that nature is energy with so much potential for regeneration and healing is powerful. When we harness that power by practicing awareness, when we are nurturing instead of fighting, when we are believing instead of fearing, awareness shifts and opens up, and that is where our healing path becomes visible.
What does cancer awareness mean to you?
XO,
Lorika