Saturday, June 23, 2007

Stress and Brain Tumors

“If I am the creator of my own reality, then why do I have a brain tumor?”

As someone who believes that we do create our own experience, this question might be asked of me by my mother and my sister, both of whom have found themselves with brain tumors. At the age of fifty, my mother’s life was taken after about ten years of debilitating seizures from an inoperable benign brain tumor. It was as devastating blow to our entire family, but it was especially traumatic for my younger, triplet sisters, who were only nineteen at that time. Even more shocking was that just a few years later one of the triplets also developed an inoperable brain tumor, however, hers was malignant. No explanation, no cause, no clue from doctors as to why a healthy 23 year old girl would have a brain tumor. It’s been over fifteen years since of testing, radiation, chemotherapy, a variety of drugs and the constant interruption in the quality of her life with seizures.

Science has not yet figured out what causes Brain Tumors or the origin of many other diseases for that matter. Nevertheless, people find themselves with illnesses like brain tumors, Fibromyalgia, Rheumatoid Arthritis and even the common Canker Sore. Theoretically, however, most doctors do concluded that STRESS is a key factor to a long list of medical ailments, especially in woman.

From a medical perspective, Wikipedia encyclopedia defines stress as the disruption of homeostasis through physical or psychological stimuli. In other words, outside world forces impinge on each and every one of us. Stress is a normal part of life that can help us learn and grow. Conversely, stress can cause us significant problems when we don’t take appropriate action. When outside stimuli causes us to feel stress, we release powerful neurochemicals and hormones that prepare us to take action (the fight or flight response). If ignored, prolonged, uninterrupted, unexpected and unmanaged, stress can cause damaging health issues.

Metaphysically speaking, the law of attraction, along with other universal laws, demonstrates ways in which cause and effect are related, as well as guidelines for behaviors that will enhance our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual growth. Its core premise is that our thoughts, feelings, words, and actions produce a certain energy or vibration that attracts like energies or vibrations. In other words, with all of that, we create our own reality.

Considering the lead question, one might conclude that impacting stresses my mother experienced early in life could have resulted in certain thoughts and feelings, like fear or low self-esteem, which held a certain vibration that over time attracted a physical result in a brain tumor. And then one might further conclude that if my sister’s focus was so intently on the fear of getting a brain tumor or, even worse, dieing from one, could have been the ultimate reason she has one. Of course, fear based thoughts and feelings are not conscious ones, but are hidden in the shadows of our subconscious mind. If asked, I am sure both would agree that they would have never deliberately asked for this condition. However, the significant conclusion here is not that they didn’t choose a brain tumor but that they did not deliberately choose health. The illness was, therefore, by default.

Perhaps if more people knew this it would inspire them to pay attention to their thoughts and feelings, especially when under stress. Knowing how important thinking and feeling good meant, they would take appropriate action to relieve stress, like exercising regularly, eating more healthfully, doing meditation or other relaxation techniques, taking structured time outs, and learning new coping strategies. In the end, creating a fulfilling and healthy lifestyle depends totally on the willingness of a person to make good choices with clear intent, to make any changes as needed, including managing stress, and most importantly, to trust in the process.

The chain of pain can be broken. My mother’s death, and even my sister’s current condition, is not in vain. It is the catalyst for my spiritual awakening and my journey into understanding life and death. It has fired a passion in me to learn and grow and to teach and help others to be empowered. My mom may be gone, but I have hope for my sister.

In my workshops, the main question I ask is, “What’s your attractor factor–stress or success?”

1 comment:

  1. I found your blog fascinating - and a good reminder as to why we should as you suggest place more importance on our thoughts and feelings rather than constantly trying to run ourselves ragged.

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