05 Dec Do you wish or believe?

When I first was diagnosed with Breast Cancer, I didn’t know what to do.  I thought if I just wished hard enough that somehow my cancer would magically go away.  I tried in every way I knew, but quickly discovered (or not so quickly – depending on how you look at it) magical thinking wasn’t working.

After listening to the options that were presented to me by the medical community as my only options to get better, I found myself sinking into a deep depression.  It was in, what I would call, the dark night of my soul that I came face to face with my own mortality and when I finally surrendered. In that surrender, something beautiful happened that changed my life.  I heard a voice in the back of my head saying, “if you have the faith of a grain of mustard seed, you can move mountains.” In that moment everything changed, and I knew that I would find a way to restore my health and to have the life I wanted to live.  I didn’t know “how” but I knew that I would find a way.

It’s hard to describe what fully happens in moments like these but that’s when my thinking changed.  I no longer “wished” I could rid my body of my cancer; I knew that I would heal. This strong inner knowing propelled me forward and opened doors for me that I didn’t know existed.  Today I am happy to say I am 100 percent cancer free.

So what exactly is the difference between wishing and believing?   Wishing can be described as almost being synonymous with wanting, it is a feeling, a longing, or desire. What believing requires us to do is accept things as truth or real.  Are you ready to accept the reality? All things are possible, and you can heal from any disease.

The free dictionary defines wishing and believing as:

wish

a.)  A feeling that one would like to have or do something or to see something happen; a desire, longing, or strong inclination for a specific thing.

believe

a.) To accept as true or real.
b.) To credit with veracity.
c.) To expect or suppose; think.

If we truly want to restore our health, we have to break through the old paradigms. Thought patterns that keep us stuck in believing what we see, feel and think we know are the only possibilities.  When we shift our perspective, everything becomes possible.

It’s so difficult to give up our control because we think that somehow we can make what we want to happen. This is magical thinking.  How many times when we were little kids, when something happened that we didn’t like, we believed that if we were in charge that if we were in charge  things would be different? Kids have magical thinking perfected!

When I was first diagnosed with cancer, I believed if I just tried hard enough I would heal.  I struggled, I cried, I wished, and I tried to bargain my way to healing. I knew I didn’t deserve this to happen to me. I didn’t do anything wrong.  Sadly, this kind of thinking was not changing anything, it had nothing to do with what was right or wrong.

When we are in fear, we go to a very young part of ourselves, and that is where our magical thinking lives.  It wasn’t until I surrendered that everything began to change. I didn’t realize at the time, but surrendering was not giving up, in surrendering I was giving it over to a higher power. That decision stopped all the chattering in my head and opened me up to being able to listen to the guidance from that voice within and find a way to truly heal.

If things aren’t going how you would like them to go in your life, chances are you are using your magical thinking and hoping things will change.  You might feel like you are doing everything the right way. If I just believe hard enough, it will change! Or, maybe you are feeling completely overwhelmed and don’t know how to take action to change things. Today, I want to challenge you to look inside and get curious about whether you are using magical thinking or do you honestly believe?

Are you feeling frightened?  Do you have even the slightest doubt? Are you wanting to click your ruby slippers together and be in Kansas? Or are you willing to surrender and listen to what your heart is telling you is the truth?

I invite you to join me in my private Facebook Group – Living A fulfilled Life. 

The group is a safe place, where we continue the conversation while offering uplifting support to each other as we move through our journey. I hope to see you there!

Photo Credit Photo by Ben White on Unsplash