“You don’t have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body.” – C.S. Lewis
I use to ponder this as a pre-teen, in my confusions rolling around in my head trying to understand a Sunday School lesson, or a conversation with another pre-teen about God. I had come to this conclusion and actually was quite surprised to have found this quote from C.S. Lewis this morning. Just goes to show that often our thoughts and conclusions align with many others in the world and are not unique, but they are unique to us at the time of our realization. I think it’s better that way. To sometimes discover things on your own, from your own observations. But it doesn’t hurt to have them validated by others who have come to the same way of thinking.
“The soul is placed in the body like a rough diamond, and must be polished, or the luster of it will never appear.” – Daniel Defoe
In the past I’ve written, about things to be mindful of as we travel down the road with Multiple Myeloma, both as patients and caregivers. Managing our stress, working on having a more positive perspective about our lives and the obstacles we are encountering. That it might give you that edge you need, not too mention just feeling better emotionally about everything that is going on.
Yesterday I ran across this story and was pretty amazed by it (link below).
Broken Heart Syndrome Really Does Exist
Of course, this is only part of the plan. You need to take care of it all in a balanced way. See your doctors, eat well, move your body, get sleep, be thoughtful in your approaches and attitudes. We looked at it like a foundation, and we did all that we could to shore up all the cornerstones in Dave’s life. Regardless of how things turn out, right now, we are very happy, engaged, and most definitely appreciative. We do not know what the future holds for any of us, and for a long time we couldn’t set a goal for even next week! Now, we are more comfortable setting goals knowing that if they change, oh well. Been there, done that!
I know, it’s hard. You’re in the middle of a tornado and someone is telling you to have faith, a good attitude, blah, blah, blah. You can however, be strong, forceful, directed, thoughtful, physically weakened, and yes, in a mindset that helps you cope better. For me it was a daily, sometimes hourly battle. But I didn’t try to shelve it or shy away from it. I grabbed at it, by the throat sometimes, and confronted the beasts that they are, fear, uncertainty, anger, blame, shame, regret, etc. I tackled them as best I could, bit by bit. I simply refused to allow them to control my emotions and impede my ability to help Dave through our family crisis. I did not have time to mess around. The more I did it, the less intense they became. Your mind is a funny thing. It seems to protect you from things you can’t confront. It throws things at you that you can, even if you don’t want to or think you’re able. So ponder on that a bit and then just do the best you can. I know you are, even if you think you are falling short somehow. You’re not. Just keep doing your best. There is only so much we can control.
