It’s understandable, with the unpredictable nature of cancer, to fear for your loved one’s health in the future. It’s suggested that you acknowledge your fears and deal with them. But if you find yourself feeling fearful for your loved one’s health a lot, and for a long time, then there’s something that needs to be done.
It’s important that you find a way to let that fear go. Worry has been described as being like negative prayer. Every time your mind plays out the scene of what you fear might happen, it is as though you wanted that to happen. Your conscious mind knows that you really want to avoid that outcome, but your subconscious mind does not know that. You’re effectively taking the cancer, which happened in the past, and dragging it into the present with you. Why would you want to do that? Let it stay in the past where it belongs.
How do you make sure you’re living in hope? Ideally you notice when you are not, let go of the underlying fear, and replace the negative visions with positive ones. If you find yourself thinking, “I hope the cancer does not come back”, replace that with a vision of your loved one looking healthy and active. If you’ve something planned in the future such as a holiday or a family get-together, you could picture them there, and this will help you to feel more positive. This Is not about making your loved one healthier – it is about you feeling better. At the same time, your increased confidence in their health might just give them a boost.
Living in hope rather than fear is a conscious choice – and it is one you might have to make over and over again as you deal with the uncertainties and fears that cancer brings your way. But each time you choose to live in hope you not only release the burdens you feel, but you empower yourself and your friend or relative who had cancer to continue to move forward in life. None of us knows how many days and hours we have left – whether or not cancer is in our lives. So, it’s incumbent upon all of us to live in hope and achieve all that we can in the days that await us.
