There are millions of cancer survivors in the world today.  If you look on the internet you can find survivor stories for every different type of cancer and for every different method of treatment. People have survived by having conventional therapies of surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy and people have survived through alternative therapies.  Some people have survived without taking any therapy at all.  And people have died in all of those situations as well.

So what is it that determines if you will be a survivor?  Is there a recipe?

Can we find out how another survived the same cancer we have and then do the same treatment and expect to have the same result?   Sadly it seems that the answer is no.  For every cancer survivor who used treatment x there will be others who died, with the same cancer and the same treatment.  Every therapy that reports success also reports failures.

Some survivors believe that they are survivors due to the grace of God, and I am sure that they are right.  But how far do we take this?   If God is responsible for the cure was God responsible for the disease.  Just what things does God decide on, where is the boundary between our authority and divine authority?  Do I decide what I am going to have for breakfast or is that also the domain of God? It does seem that we do have an ability to choose some things in our lives and our choices lead to different consequences.  I think that our challenge is to expand our area of responsibility to include our health.  

Saying that God will decide if we are to be survivors or not, feels to me like an abdication of authority that can lead to bargaining with, supplicating and blaming God when we don’t like the decisions we believe he/she made.

My view is that God has already given us the power to decide, to choose, in all matters concerning our earthly existence, from the choice of breakfast to whether we survive cancer or not.

But that leads us back to the question of just how do we choose to become survivors? What method should we follow for our cure? 

When we consider that people have been cured by every method of healing imaginable

(e.g. the water cure www.watercure2.org)  and that some have been cured just by being too obstinate to die, then it appears that healing might be more related to a personal quality than to a specific method.

I believe that the quality that determines who becomes a survivors is intention.  People become survivors if they have a strong and aligned intention to live to the fullest. Regardless of what method they use to manifest a cure, it’s the intention that drives them to succeed.

How strong is your intention to be a survivor?  Do you want to live with all your heart and soul?  Does your intention sustain you through the times of fear and pain? 

Probably your first reaction is to say, “of course I want to live, doesn’t everybody?” when actually, some people don’t. In Love, Medicine and Miracles Bernie Siegel, M.D writes,

‘About 15 to 20 percent of all patients unconsciously, or even consciously, wish to die….In the middle of the spectrum of patients is the majority, about 60 to 70 percent. They are like actors auditioning for a part.  They are performing to satisfy the physician…. At the other extreme are the 15 to 20 percent who are exceptional.  They are not auditioning; they are being themselves.  They refuse to play the victim.’

Being a survivor is exceptional; its having a constant intention to live that sustains you when your mind wants to turn to blame, victimhood, despair and giving up.  Whenever you find yourself playing the victim, refusing to take your treatment or dreading another day living with your disease than you have let your intention slip and don’t have the attitude of a survivor.   This will happen to all of us, repeatedly, but the trick to succeeding is to use your willpower to return to your intention and let that be the source of all your actions, attitudes, thoughts and beliefs.

Victor Frankle, who survived a Nazi concentration camp says  ‘Everything can be taken from a man but the last of the human freedoms: his ability to choose his attitude in the face of any circumstances.’  It’s as true in the oncology ward as it is in the concentration camp.

Managing the mind takes practice, having a clear and strong intention to live fully is a skill that needs to be developed but it is possible to decide to be a survivor. 

We call phenomena ‘acts of God’ when we have no control over them.  They are events that happen due to forces beyond our understanding or ability to influence.  Dying or surviving a serious illness will appear to be an act of God until we take responsibility for our healing intention and act on it with all our power.   Once we master our intention we will find that deciding to be a survivor, although never as easy as deciding what to have for breakfast, is still a decision we can make.

If our clear and consistent decision to be a survivor makes any difference to what is actually going on at a cellular level then it could well mean the difference between life and death.  If our decision makes no difference on a cellular level, then at least we will be happily fooling ourselves into feeling confident and relaxed and enjoying every moment as a survivor rather than as a victim Anyway you look at this, believing in yourself is  a good deal!

 

 

 

 

 

David Elliot is a cancer survivor of both melanoma and glioma multiform blastoma, both considered to be deadly cancers. He attributes his ongoing survival to his absolutely positive outlook and ability to be self-aware. Read his inspiring Ebook on how to survive terminal cancer "You Don't Have To Die When You Doctor Says" www.survivecancer.info

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/cancer-articles/what-makes-a-cancer-survivor-847988.html

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