The diagnosis of cancer can be extremely devastating. This can be even more so if you are an athlete and had always thought yourself to be in excellent health. If you have always been a healthy and outgoing athlete with a penchant to win, here is something you may not have thought about: the very skills that have helped you win in the past can help you win now! Read on to learn how.
When you are in competition and you are down to your last drop of strength, if you are any kind of athlete at all you know how to call on mind over matter. You can focus on your breathing, imagine yourself crossing the finish line or storing that winning touchdown. This visualization helps you reach deep inside yourself for the last ounce of courage and strength to help you win.
In an endurance competition, you know that you must stay in the moment in order to make it through to the end. Rather than thinking about how far you have to go before you get to the end of the marathon, you simply think about taking the next step, taking the next breath and doing the best you can. This skill will serve you well as you work your way through treatment for cancer and recovery.
Any time you are in a competition it helps to have people cheering you on, handing you bottles of water and standing in your corner to wipe your sweaty brow. This is just as important when you are going through treatment for cancer. Be sure to assemble an excellent support team as soon as you find out that you will need one.
Conquer your opponent by giving it a name and staring it down. When you face obstacles in any kind of athletic competition, it is sometimes helpful to think of them as human foes. Curse and threaten them and you will overcome them. The same is true of your cancer cells. Imagine them, envision them, nam them and banish them!
If you have ever been in serious competition and trained really hard, you know that there can be quite a bit of pain involved. By invoking some of your worst experiences of pain while training, you may be able to gain a new perspective on your treatment experience.
Remember the times in your athletic pursuits when you were at the end of your rope and were so exhausted that you had to laugh or cry. Think about the many times that you may have ended up laughing hysterically even at the peak of pain and exhaustion.
Understand that laughing and crying are both excellent forms of stress release and you have the power to choose which you want to use. Take steps to make laughter the easy choice in all occasions.
Remember to also choose happiness. Think about the times when you have been pushing to win and consciously ejected negative thoughts because you know what a drain they are on your strength and energy. Use this same technique to help you retain strength and energy for cancer recovery.
Of course the big difference between cancer and athletics is that you choose to be an athlete, but nobody chooses to have cancer. Be that as it may, when you have been diagnosed with cancer choosing to use the strengths that you have developed throughout your life will surely help you to prevail.