Guest Spotlight: Melanie Bowen, Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance

I would like to welcome Melanie Bowen to La Dolce Vita! She is a part-time blog contributor for the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance and blogger of Milady Knows. Her focus is on advocating for natural health and cancer cure initiatives, along with encouraging those with illnesses to use journaling as a path to healing and it is on that topic that she writes today. So, without further ado, here she is!

 

Taking Lemons and Turning Them Into Lemonade

Sometimes, life’s obstacles can seem unbearable or too strenuous to overcome. For example, if you have been given a serious diagnosis of a life threatening illness like mesothelioma, cancer or multiple sclerosis, you may not have a cheery outlook on your prognosis.  However, there are ways to make your life meaningful and give you something to work toward.

Writing Your Way to Health

Health has many different meanings.  You can be healthy in mind, even if your body is not cooperating. You can be healthy in spirit even if you are facing chemotherapy, radiation treatment or a grim prognosis.  It is all in the way you look at health.  Holistic practitioners and even researchers are finding that addressing all aspects of a person, not just their body, has a huge impact on the overall health of a person and how well they respond to treatment when facing critical and major illness.

Writing is one way to find a path to obtaining a positive healthy mind, body and spirit.  Keeping a personal journal is a practice that many psychotherapists recommend.  Writing can be a safe way to explore your thoughts and feelings as you go through your healing journey.  Nobody else sees it.  Nobody will review it and critique you for whatever feelings you express in your journal.  It is a place you can rant and rave, a place where you can say how angry you are at what is happening, a place where you can complain to your heart’s content about the nasty side effects your medications are having on you.

It is also a place where you can dream.  Your personal journal is a place where you can write about the life you imagine you want to have.  It is a place where you can explore your biggest fantasies and write about the things you still want to accomplish and experience in life.  Your personal journal is a place where you can write down goals for yourself and then have the joyful experience of crossing them off as you actually accomplish them.

Looking Forward by Looking Back

As you go through your life journey, you will occasionally want to look back at all of the things that you have conquered and pat yourself on the back for your accomplishments.  In fact, for many people, looking back at their life challenges and seeing just how strong they have been is a source of inspiration for the future.  They say to themselves, “look at what I did in the past, this is nothing compared to that!”  By keeping a journal, you can document your personal journey and have a reminder of just how much you have accomplished and what you have to look forward to in the future.

A personal journal is a great place to keep track of your own personal journey. It can be a place to turn to for inspiration and to remind yourself of your inner strength and your abilities.  It can be a place where you explore your personal goals, where you talk about your frustrations and where you crow to yourself about your accomplishments.  So pick up your pen today and start writing.  Your future self will be happy you did.

So today, pull out a piece of paper and start writing down things you want to accomplish.  Write about your dreams and your goals.  Write about your fantasy adventures.  Write down your own personal bucket list – and then begin taking steps, large or small, to bring those dreams to life.