Keep up in good spirit

 "A man's spirit sustains him in sickness, but a crushed spirit, who can bear?" Proverbs 18:14

More than once I have heard that high spirits and good disposition alone can’t cure an illness. It is true. Sometimes it is frustrating for people who are going through a situation to have to deal with the glass half full club who will come and cheer when they have never gone through a similar situation.

However, when it comes to staying positive and in good spirits, other people’s input is not as important as our own intention and will.

Lots of people see optimism and that need to cheer is something we need to receive from other people- and reject when we are not feeling up to par- but in order for it to work, it has to be borne from ourselves.

The book of Proverbs tells us that in order to overcome; the real strength will have to come from the inside. More than people cheering us on, it is fundamental for us to find that spark within ourselves.

 I’m by no means criticizing peoples who are harbingers of joy. After all, I am all for a network of support when it comes to illness. The worst would be, for us to have a wonderful outlook in life and be surrounded by people who will not support us. However, we will never fully appreciate what other people do for us, until we start working on it by ourselves. Most patients help their prognosis just by showing a positive attitude towards their illness.

If a patient sees things on a positive light, it is a lot easier to battle through what life throws at us.

I know a young woman who was diagnosed with cancer. She was a junior in High School at the time. I will always remember the initial shock and the tears. As much as I remember her pain, I will also be impressed with that relative “elasticity of feeling” that is characteristic to the very young. Once she discovered that crying won’t help but momentarily, she wiped the tears and quickly replaced them with a smile. Even facing the uncertainty of a treatment with a 50% chance of success, she didn’t give it a second thought. She asked for pictures. Yes pictures; of the activities she was missing out on. She had pictures of family and friend carrying on with their daily lives. She would look at them and visualize herself inside them.

Instead of looking at pictures that told her about a past without illness, she took these new ones and gave herself perspective. It kept her up, it made her smile.

 Her journey lasted almost a year and a half, but her attitude and good spirits never failed and were key to her success. She kept her eyes on Christ and today she is enjoying good health and can add cancer free to an ever growing list of personal achievements.

 As far as Lupus, we need to keep thinking that in spite of our chronic condition, we have to be grateful of alternatives of treatment that will allow us to live a normal life. Even those whose Lupus is severe, have found an alternative to improve their quality of life while searching for remission.

 So, let’s keep those spirits up, keep God as our guide and carry on!