Having Hope For Healing When You Have A Chronic Illness
When you have a chronic illness, by definition, it is not going anywhere anytime soon. When faced with that reality, how do you maintain hope for future healing?
While you likely need to accept your diagnosis and its corresponding limitations in order to navigate everyday life, being open to the possibility that you can achieve your own version of wellness, is key to balancing acceptance of your chronic illness reality with hope for future healing.
“Believe the diagnosis, not the prognosis.” - Deepak Chopra
I love this quote and the general idea behind it! Deepak Chopra reminds anyone experiencing disease to find that balance between the reality of the situation, while maintaining some hope that we can improve our situation...and, possibly defy the odds.
Hope is important because it is aligned with the belief that change is possible.
Taking this one step further, hope can include a belief that YOU can help to make that change happen. If you have hope, it will lead to greater confidence and commitment to what you CAN do. This provides motivation to continue to make healthy changes, advocate for yourself and to keep showing up for the things in your life that bring you joy and purpose.
This balance may be less about reaching a cure or remission status than finding your path to living well with your chronic illness. It involves a mindset that is open to change and possibility.
This does not mean delusional hope.
There is a lot of scientific information out there pointing to the fact that many chronic illnesses can be controlled, managed or reversed through lifestyle changes. This may or may not apply to you and your illness. However, looking further into the possibilities of what you can do for yourself, and how you can make your situation better, is something that can give you hope. This could mean anything from making something work better for you regarding your daily responsibilities, to reducing stress, or even to reducing your symptoms.
It means finding your balance.
Finding your balance with hope for healing is likely a moving target and a continual balancing act depending on what is going on in your life and health. However, when you feel hopeless, helpless or demoralized, you may be less likely to take proactive steps that could lead to positive consequences for your health and wellness. When you feel like there are things you can do to improve your circumstances, you are more likely to try. The efforts can be tiny baby steps. However, those efforts will add up over time, and you are likely to feel some kind of beneficial difference in your life and health.
Finding Your Balance
For more information on reframing your mindset to find your Chronic Wellness Balance, check out Day 6 of the Chronic Wellness Challenge
I believe that finding room for hope in my chronic illness journey has changed the trajectory of my primary chronic illness - recurrent lymphoma.
While I cannot prove this from a medical perspective, I believe this to be true.
I have been “watchful waiting” my cancer to determine whether it will require treatment for a third time. Fortunately, I have been in this holding pattern for about 14 years now. The first few years of “watchful waiting” was truly that - me waiting for my cancer to require treatment. I was not being proactive. I was simply waiting for the inevitable.
Then, at some point, a switch flipped in my mind. I was tired of waiting and feeling powerless. I started taking action to get myself healthier and stronger - partly to get myself ready for treatment and partly out of a hope that I could become so well that my body could better focus on eradicating the cancer.
Delusional or not, I started to take action. And, the layers of illness have been slowly peeling away ever since.
While I might not be able to reach the nirvana of perfect health regardless of my efforts, I know that I have power to make a difference in my health. By taking a more proactive role in my health I am trying to find my personal balance between accepting my reality and hoping that I can heal.
I call this a thriving mindset.
Fundamental to this mindset is recognizing that while you might not be able to control your illness, you have some control over how you think about it - and, opening your mind to exploring what you can do to better your health beyond following doctor's orders.
This mindset involves accepting your illness and working with it rather than against it. It involves giving yourself some self-compassion as you live with the inherent difficulties of it. But, it also leaves room for hope and the possibility that your healthy choices will make more room for your body to heal.
While I am still “watchful waiting” in the medical sense, what I do for my health on a daily basis is anything but waiting. I follow doctor's orders and I do a whole lot more through the guidance of integrative providers.
I don't know how my cancer story will evolve, but I am not willing to merely wait to find out. I know that I am doing a lot to ensure that the story ends as well as it can. And, in the meantime, I am going to take great care of myself while enjoying my improved health and quality of life.
And, I am hoping that I can help you to see that YOU have the potential to take a more proactive role in your health and find your version of a Chronic Wellness Balance.
What are your greatest hopes for your life and health?
WHat do these hopes make possible for you?
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