You Too Are an Olympian

The Winter Olympics have been going for eleven days and obviously the competition is fierce.  These athletes have trained for years, if not their entire lives to try to achieve this one goal…the gold medal.  They make sacrifices by their own choice and reap the rewards of hard training.  You on the other hand were catapulted into a new arena where there is no chance to train for the desired outcome, health and healing.

It takes Olympic perseverance to achieve health and healing.  If you think of yourself as an Olympic athlete you know that it involves all aspects of your life, not just the physical.  How many athletes did you see get psyched out by their opponents?  How many athletes did you see get psyched out by the power of their own mind and allowing a crack of doubt to enter their consciousness?

So what does this mean for you following the diagnosis of a chronic or life-threatening illness?  It means that your level of determination plays a role in some level of your health and healing.  I say some level because not all illnesses can be cured so it’s about remission or diminishing symptoms or increased quality of life.  Whatever level your at that’s the level you need to play at in these heroic acts of wellness.

If you think you can go it alone and win, you’re wrong.  Your body may respond, but your emotional and spiritual self-will be isolated and alone.  This is why so many illnesses sponsor retreats for individuals with a particular diagnosis.  The one I’m most familiar with is Commonweal, in Marin County, CA.  A place for cancer patients to learn about mind-body medicine, diet and nutrition, integration of body, mind, and spirit as a treatment modality, just to name a few goals of the program.  It’s like the Olympic training center in Colorado Springs because you’re surrounded by people, information, and practices that will allow you rise to your highest level of healing.

I hope you think of yourself in Olympic proportions because it’s that type of determination that gets results.  It’s the choice, the desire, and the mission to gain as much information and self-knowledge to ensure that you stand on your own medal podium on your journey to wellness.