Our Life Is Our Choice

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11744686.post-28455846683287383262008-06-26T10:15:00.007+08:002008-06-26T16:32:10.532+08:00Our Life Is Our Choice<a href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-5DKm39i1Bk/SGNTbyBV9LI/AAAAAAAAAdk/eYZHSYdNTFM/s1600-h/savoycabbage.gif"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5216104530174145714" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-5DKm39i1Bk/SGNTbyBV9LI/AAAAAAAAAdk/eYZHSYdNTFM/s320/savoycabbage.gif" border="0" /></a> <div>It sunshine we have today. Alhamdulillah, praise and grace to Allah. I read about a friend's writing pertaining to what should we do to avoid or prevent us from getting the dreaded illnesses such as breast cancer, fibroids or tumors. While I acknowledge his sincere intention to advice all of us, I can't help feeling a bit taken a back. I strongly feel I need to correct his perception of certain things. I choose to educate my readers about certain things I noted not correctly mentioned in his writing. Spinach is not a waste to be eaten. It is rich in lutein, an anti-ageing agent plus contains a good dose of folic acid, a brain and artery protector. It is also a natural source for calcium. So instead of depending on calcium pills which may stress the liver, take spinach as the vegie in our diet. The rule is, eat it in moderation and mix and match it with other vegies too to make it balance. Cabbage is also not a wastage. It contains natural beta-carotene, indoles, glucoinolates and isothiocyanates that can prevent sertain cancers. According to a study, it can help deter colon cancer and stomach cancer. Savoy cabbage (the crinkly type) is the strongest one; you can eat it raw or lightly cooked for best result. The caution: wash it really, really clean under the running water leaf by leaf before cutting it. If you can get organic cabbage, that's even better as no pesticide is used. The rule of thumb when buying: find the cabbage that has some marks of insect or caterpillar bites. The clean-dressed one is one that you should be wary. It indicates that pesticides are used heavily making the insect unable to even get near it. Sometimes or many times it happens in our live. We try to prevent from getting the dreaded C by making sure we do this and that, we eat this and that. We avoid this and that. But the big C invaded the stable happiness we have. It crumples all efforts. But regret never attacks me. I never regretted the fact that after trying doing and praying hard that: saya dijauhkan dari penyakit-penyakit yang memudaratkan (I'm protected from all the dreaded sicknesses) and I still get it. It's a test from God and part of the tribulation that I need to allow some pauses in my life and do some self-reflections. It is a fate that only God knows why it happens or to whom it will happen. I am selected to shoulder this test. And I'm not backing away or refusing it because I just can't run away or tell God I decline this sickness and please give it to some one else. And I'm not giving my efforts up. I maintain all the efforts and improvise it. This time, because I already have the big C, I need to change some of the foods I take. It's a fate that I'm a lactose intolerant person as dairy products like milk, cheese have some adverse effects to my body if I consume it. This is a blessing for me now. Again, let me clarify, these foods are not harmful. If you are not a lactose intolerant person like me and without the big C, then they become a good source for calcium for the body. But because I have big C, it becomes a bad, bad food. I tell you why. Milk produces mucuous in the stomach and mucuous is part of the food for the cancer cells. It aggravates the growth of the young buds of the cancer cells. It becomes the fertilizers. Now, of course I don't want it to happen. Like sugar too, it multiplies the growth of the cancer cells. Less of oxygen in the blood also increases the division and multiplications of the cancer cells. It can activate the high number of cancer cells in the body. I'm grateful to Allah, the painful procedure of obtaining the blood at my pulse nodes (at my wrist) indicated that the oxygen level in my blood is good. So I know, in one part I manage to deprive or starve the cancer cells from growing. Like what I mentioned in the Blog programme, even if after all these, it comes back again, I must put up a strong mental embrace that it is fated and only Allah knows why it has to occur again, after all the trying and efforts. I must not, at any time be angry or remoseful and give up. This is a test of my resilience and faith. Nobody wants this dread C. Nobody likes to be sick. Thus, even with all this sickness and the clarification from my oncologist that because the scraping of my chest wall was to make sure the breast has good safety margin, it has exposed the ribcage bones as only the skin is protecting them. So, I have to understand that I will experience the chest pains attacking with twitching, prickling, piercing, throbbing or pressing sensations. I just need to take it as part of what I will endure. Like the frequent visits and tests, I did mention to MH one day last week that I have to embrace this thing: I'm now a test subject. Some people do not want it. So they stop going to the doctor. I look up highly to my doctors. They are the experts and I know deep in my heart that it is never in their intention to make me suffer. They are here to help treat my situation. The trust is so strong to them. I embrace the Doa, Usaha, Ikhtiar and Tawakkal or the DUIT key words. What the doctors do are part of the usaha. My ikhtiar comes in the efforts to change my lifestyle, from being sad to being happy, if I cannot exercise religiously then making sure I practise good breathing techniques like in the TaiChi or QiGong to ensure good level of oxyegn is restored in my blood. Having positive mindset to energize the positive vibes in my body is part of the ikhtiar too. It's not easy, I tell you. More often than not, the mind becomes too affected by the concerns and worries. But I need to always touch my base to avoid the worries from overwhelming and conquering me. My base is the mental and spiritual embrace to accept all this as part of what has been fated for me. I start everything with hard prayers (Do'a in each solat) daily and make sure after all efforts are done I put back everything in God's hand (tawakkal). Like playing softball, every point of returning home has a base. To do so, we need to touch the base. We can't fly to run home. It's easy to utter the word patience. Be patient. Of course, that's the least we could do. But I believe we can do more. Mental strength is one. That is one important pillar of strength. That's why I appreciate the efforts from friends who not only asked me to be patient but suggest that I continuously refer myself to God. Cancer affects people differently. And this is my choice of efforts and I write about it. And I also write about the pains to the extent I describe the pain extensively. But please understand, I write to let go my worry, not to whine about the pain. ********************* Five Energy-Draining Habits a) Skimping on Necessities Lack of sleep, exercise and good nutrition are the biggest energy-drainers in most people's lives. b) Eating Meat, Poultry and Eggs They are all rich in amino acid tryptophan, which helps induce sleep. So go light on these early in the day. c) Gulping Caffeine Coffee, tea and diet colas (soft/carbonated drinks) are stimulating but they don't provide carbohydrate calories, which are the source of true energy. If you rely on caffeine for energy, you'll soon find yourself running on empty fuel tank. d) Snacking on Sugary Treats Sugar gives you instant energy that fades super-fast. e) Gorging on Big Meals You'll exhaust yourself trying to digest all that food. Instead, eat small amounts of food more often. Hope this info helps us to adjust our lives. Have a great day!</div>Raden Galohhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13504930116365592366noreply@blogger.com18