As a 20 year survivor of Heart Failure, a Left Ventricular Device (LVAD), and a Heart Transplantation and the whole ugly road that it can travel I want to give some free advice. Don’t Freak Out! That’s it, that’s the secret and that’s the challenge.
Like many people I went through the gambit of mental and physical challenges accompanying a serious illness. But having survived the gauntlet, I now look back and realize that the search and need for calmness was essential to my being alive today. There were many twists in the road, but for some reason, when the news worsened, I was able to keep from squirming too far down the wrong hole and focus on remaining calm. Oh sure, there were times of complete panic and projecting the very worst outcome. But that is what we have a tendency to do, project the worst.
We all tend not to live in the moment. We either look back at what we could have done to avoid the current predicament or worry about what tomorrow will bring, what disaster is next. I now believe that worry is actually the harbinger of ill health. Worrying creates a negative energy field that permeates our whole being, not only throughout our mind but throughout every cell in our body and inhibiting our ability to fight illness and to regenerate our body, which is necessary for survival. All I know is that calmness therapy seemed to work for me then and helps me today in my continued recovery from my heart transplant.
You may find this calmness therapy concept as just plain gibberish. It sounds good on paper and you’ve heard it all before. Well yes, that’s is probably true but this time you are hearing it from someone who survived Congestive Heart failure, Coronary Artery Disease, Invasive Melanoma, Eight Stents, LVAD , Coma’s and a Heart Transplant. During all these challenges, calmness was the key to survival. Whether you meditate, use your faith in a higher power or just focus on the possible positive outcomes to remain calm, DO IT.
I am blessed to have a wonderful spouse who helped me to stay calm most of the time. My point here is to share your feelings with those you love when you think it’s appropriate to do so and it won’t harm them in any way. If you are blessed to have that special friend in your life, the benefits will show themselves beyond measure in times of great difficulty.
So, Do Not Freak Out!