There have been several threads of late on the stress of PCa. I can identify with them all. By nature, I worry. If I let it get the better of me, I worry constantly and worry breeds worry. But, I've had some good success in overcoming my natural state of worrywort. Matter-of-fact, most days I totally conquer it. And, I swing right over into being fabulous.
I thought it might be helpful to others to talk a bit about what I do, how I work at programing my mind, and to ask others if they do something similar in the hope they might share their experience and "tricks" of mind control with me.
One thing I find helpful is to remind myself that I have power over my mind. I can choose what thoughts to think. When I think, "it' could be bad," I try to right away tell myself, "or, it could be excellent." Then I consciously make myself aware I can decide how I'm going to react. I can allow my mind to think, "I'm toast," or I can will my mind to think, "this is no big deal. I'm fine."
Without any informaton people who think the worst say their fear is real. And, it is. But, with the same lack of information, if they work at thinking the best, they say, "oh, that's fake --- you just made it up!" Well, excuse me --- you made up the worst in exactly the same way. One is as real as the other, and you do have a choice as to what you decide you'll allow into your mind.
I'm not saying it's easy, but I do know it works. And, with practice, the mantra, "every day, in every way, I'm more in control of my mind and my thoughts," will pay dividends. Or, as my grandmother used to say, "This is the day the Lord hath made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it!" You don't have to be a believer to adapt that mantra to being the first thought when you throw your legs over the side of the bed in the morning.
In 1972 I met a man named Wayne Dyer who told me, "If you wake up in the morning and say you're going to have a bad day, you'll very rarely disappoint yourself." I took it to heart.
When people ask me how I am, I say, "fabulous!"
I learned mind power from such mentors as Lou Tice, Ken Blanchard, and Charlie "Tremendous" Jones. Google Charlie. You'll be glad you did. Charlie died just over two years ago. Of PCa, but PCa never got Charlie down. Charlie lived every day to the fullest. You'll not be surprised to learn that he earned his nickname, "Tremendous" because when you asked how he was, with enthusiasm he'd say, "Tremendous!"
My goal is to have "Fabulous" as my middle name!
I hope the above is helpful and I hope others will chime in with how they practice mind control.
And, for those who know I write books you'll not be surprised that the above is part of one of the manuscripts I'm working on now.
Sheldon AKA Sleepless