The Sign Post
I’ll never forget the moment I meet the young man. He introduced himself to me by saying he had a brain tumour and could I please help him? He said the doctor told him surgery couldn’t be done on the cancer as the roots were too entwined into his brain and he would lose brain function. He took off his hat and there it was. The growth was the size of a grapefruit, sitting on top of his head. He said it was taking him longer to do normal tasks and he was finding it difficult to do simple calculations at work. He said he couldn’t seem to remember some things that he should find easy and at times he also had blurred vision. He recently was engaged and his fiancé had heard about my recovery from cancer a few years before. I told him about the clinic and recommended he ring them and see if they could help. I later heard he went to the clinic. Then I lost track of him.
It was several years later when I was at a personal development training session that a man walked up to me and asked if I remembered him. Not really… I meet so many people in my line of business. And then he took off his hat and I recognized him. But the grapefruit-sized lump was gone. He since had married and now had three young boys and wanted to thank me for helping him.
The truth is I didn’t help Simon. I was simply a sign post to point him in the direction of some professionals who could help him. He did the work, he changed the things in his life that were necessary for healing to occur. He found a purpose much bigger than himself and was able to visualize himself making a difference to others. He changed his mental vision and belief about cancer. He changed his vocabulary, his attitude, his diet and his life.
Success in any endeavour requires we pay the price and the price cannot be negotiated. The tragedy is some people wait until the last moments to decide to pay the price and, in some cases, it can be too late. They don’t have enough time, energy or healthy cells left to give themselves the ability to get well. It is like needing to lose 20 pounds to fit into a dress for a special occasion, but you don’t go on the diet until the day before and then declare that diets don’t work. It isn’t until you become truly honest with yourself that things can and will change.
But, to be fair, sometimes when the shock hits you that you have a short time to live, your mind sits down and you can’t absorb the information you need to take in to make the changes. That is why I believe in prevention. It is a much easier road and you can constantly monitor how you are travelling.
Prevention is about the way you manage your thoughts, attitudes, stress and situations that life will bring to you. It is about what you eat and about self-care. It is who you are–your character. Life happens to everybody, but not everybody is prepared for life. For me, knowing and chasing down my life’s purpose has become the grandest and most exciting journey. Making a difference to others along the way is truly amazing. People will cross your path and you will influence winners such as Simon, who never negotiate the price of success and are never complacent. That is what makes them winners. Winners understand the power of dedication and discipline. They apply this law of life – “You cannot get what you’ve never had unless you’re willing to do what you’ve never done”.
Let me be a sign post for you: Prevention is the best policy. Health is about being proactive. Do what has to be done, because it has to be done, when it has to be done, whether you like it or not. You will be glad you did.
