thank god i had cancer by marilyn joyce

8/14/2019 Thank God I Had Cancer by Marilyn Joyce

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Thank God I Had Cancer

By: MARILYN JOYCE

Presented By: Jeff Sohler

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INTRODUCTION

by John Castagnini

IMPORTANT...Please Do Not Skip This Section!

Why this ebook? What makes it so different? Not onlyare these answers important, they are integral to yourunderstanding of the story presented here. Please donot skip over this brief introduction in your eagernessto get to the meat of the ebook itself.

When I first thought to include Thank God I WasRaped as one of the stories for Thank God I...™ Volume1, the concept sent chills through my spine. Couldanyone who’s endured this brutal, horrifying experiencereally embrace these words? Over the years, I’veconsulted with countless women during their raperecovery. I chose the title after witnessing whattranspires for them when they come to this conclusionof gratitude. What became quite apparent over acourse of thousands upon thousands of conversationsis that we only evolve past the mental traum a fromsuch a happening when we can hold “the love for it in

our hearts”




What is meant by “God”?

God — Certainly, the biggest three-letter word evercreated. Grand Organized Designer best describes theGod referred to in the Thank God I...™ books, websiteeducational material and seminars.

The thousands of people sharing their stories in thisseries all perceive God in their own light. Thank GodI...™ is about this network of people, willing to movebeyond having the right “name” for God.

Even the word “God” itself cannot finite the infinite.

Rather, God refers to a system governing the brillianceof what is, and is not.

What this book series is not supposed to be.

This series does not condone or promote any of the

acts the writers have experienced, nor do we suggestin any way that anyone should either commit any ofthese acts or subject themselves to any of these acts.This series also does not promote or label any specifickind of behavior as “right” or “wrong”, nor were the storieswritten or the book published for the purpose of

suggesting that anyone rationalize their actions orbehavior.




In addition, the Thank God I...™ series does not promoteor deny any religion. Rather, it honors the existence ofreligion and all things as part of a perfect creation.

What is Thank God I...™ about?

Our intention with this series is to convey this one keyprinciple: Perfection permeates everything. Each time

we fail to recognize this principle, the next lesson tocome our way will once again offer us the opportunityto see the perfection and break through into freedom.In fact, finding perfection in the pain and pleasure ofour own personal tribulations is the only way we willever liberate ourselves from the bondage of patterns.

Whether it comes in a day, a year, or a lifetime away,situations will come into our lives that will force us tobecome thankful for “what was,” and to whole-heartedlyexperience “what is.”

What is meant by “Thanking God”?

During the creation phase of this series, we werefortunate to have as our ever-efficient assistant,Cassandra Gatzow, a beautiful twenty-three-year-oldwriter and poet. Just prior to coming to work with us,Cassandra was diagnosed with cervical cancer. A littleover a year and a half later, the cancer spread and she

left this world before the first book launched.




After Cassandra passed, my heart was struck by thewords she put to the page as she endured thisexperience. She wrote of her earth angels and herexplorations as she left her body to “dance with herangels.” She did not write about her passing, she wroteabout Thank God I...™ living as she moved through herlife’s greatest test, and her life’s ending. She viewedeach person, each moment as precious. How fortunate

she was, to see God in the now.

Imagine — this is what she wrote about her cancer:

“Tears fill my eyes daily with gratitude for every moment and every breath. It has allowed me to go after my

dreams, to live from my heart, and to be truly free. I thank God for my cancer and for allowing me to reach a place in me that I don’t think would have been possible without this experience. I am now twenty- three and feel that I have stepped into my skin proudly.I have felt an inner peace that many don’t find until later in life. I am truly grateful for all my earth angels and

want to thank them for sharing with me this wonderful journey”

...Cassandra

There are 4 million tasks to accomplish in order to

bring the Thank God I...™ network to the standard of ourvision. Thank you, Cassandra, for reminding me why




Thank God I...™ was conceived in the first place.

Thanking God is about the above. Not just what isabove this sentence; it is about what is above, guidingus at every moment. Beyond the pain, chaos, andconfusion of our circumstance exists true perfection.Thanking God is about finding this perfection. Thisplace of thanking God might seem nearly impossible to

find, but it is the only place we will find ourselves.

Thank God I...™ is true “gratitude”.

Sure, we all hear about the “good things” that people aregrateful for in their lives. But, is this gratitude? Thank

God I...™ gratitude is about a state of being. It is about astate of inspiration, non-judgment, and presence.Thank God I...™ gratitude is beyond the illusion ofpositive or negative. It is beyond the lies of “good” and“evil”. Thank God I...™ . gratitude is about finding God inevery word, thought, and deed. In spirit, we are beyondthe illusion of pain or pleasure and we are present with

spirit. Thank God I...™ gratitude is about equal love forall that is, as it is, was, or ever shall become. Gratitudeis loving what we don’t “like” as much as loving what wedo “like”.

The diversity of authors and experiences

The intention of this series is to reach all of humanity,




every single unique creation. We did not base theselection of contributions to this series upon any faithor religious orientation. Each selected author took aformer challenge into their heart. The diversity ofauthors spans religions, countries, professions, age,race, nationality, and definitely experiences. Theyrange from strippers to doctors, from politicians to stay-at-home moms, and whoever they are, gratitude rules.

From alcoholism to molestation or rape, the law ofgratitude prevails with each of our authors.Thankfulness for whatever is, or is not, ultimately rulesevery one of our kingdoms.

The vision of Thank God I...™

Little did I imagine how lightning-fast Thank God I...™would circle the world. This network includesthousands of contributors, reaching millions of people,sharing not only their stories, but also their answers!Beyond the books, and the online community, we offerworldwide conference calls, workshops, and seminars!

The vision of this series will provide everyone withinspecific communities information in order to evolvepast the emotions that are holding them back. Thepeople and the project are revolutionary.

“All things in nature proceed from certain necessity and

with the utmost perfection.” ...Baruch Spinoza




Thank God

I Had Cancer

MARILYN JOYCE




In most ways, it was a day like any other back in 1985.I awoke at 5:00 a.m., did my concentrated hour of yogaand meditation, and hurriedly showered as I began, inmy already over-full brain, to organize my busy dayahead. With two teenage kids to rouse from their usualdeep sleep, breakfasts were always a challenge as Icontinually yelled those all-too-common words,"Get up now, or you'll be late for school!"

However for me, this morning was different. As I stoodin front of the bathroom mirror after my delicious,steamy shower, deep in contemplation, I noticed thatthe little blue spot under my eye (from an extremelyhard baseball that hit my eye when I was eleven) was

not the same. Today it was shiny, hard, and kind of amixture of black and purple, depending on how thelight. It definitely would have been beautiful as thefabric of a dress for me, since those are my bestcolors. But on my face, it was not a pretty picture! Howhad I not noticed this before? I guess like most moms, Irarely had the luxury of time to gaze in the mirror at my

face when the day ahead always had so manydemands to meet. A quick make-up job, and then I wasoff and running.

That particular morning I'd awoke feeling on top of theworld. I had arrived! My own professional association

invited me to be a keynote presenter at our annualconference. As I showered, anticipation and a sense of




incredible possibilities filled my thoughts. I planned myspeech and visualized the room packed with more thana thousand of my peers. The thrill of this picture left mealmost breathless. Until I looked in the mirror! Wouldyou want to stand up there on a stage with that uglything on your face? No question about it . . . this had tobe removed pronto!

That began a journey that I shall always remember.Here I was at the peak of my career and feeling like Ihad achieved amazing success, only to be slapped inthe face with a diagnosis of cancer. Melanoma, to beexact! I had no idea how serious this illness could be.But, as if that weren't enough, a week after I got out of

the hospital from this diagnosis, I was rushed into thehospital again with uterine cancer -- stage four. I wasonly thirty-five years old! The women in my own familyimpacted by this were more than double my age whendiagnosed.

Of course, I went through all of the same feelings

everybody else goes through. How could this bepossible? I was vegan, practiced yoga, meditated daily,used the most environmentally friendly products I couldfind, worked hard, and had the respect of my peersand business associates for always doing more thanwhat was asked of me. I appeared to have more

energy than most people I knew, and on the surfacelooked, very healthy. In other words, I went into




complete denial, followed by immense, almost seethinganger, and eventually felt like a completely hopelessvictim. My frequent lament was -- you guessed it --"Why me?"

Four years later, I found myself at the lowest point inmy life, and health, imaginable. My finances were low --well let's just say nil -- and I had not been able to eat

solid foods for months. I could only suck on ice chips inorder to stay hydrated.

My body wasted away simply from lack of nourishment.And, just as most of my seriously ill patients havedone, I tried everything anyone suggested, from

anywhere and everywhere in the world, in search ofthat magic bullet.

By 1989, I weighed eighty-eight pounds and was in awheel chair. They said I wouldn't live more thananother week or so. That's when the miracles began!

In an effort to get me out of the house, my family andfriends dragged me off, or rather wheeled me off, to alocal home show. There, a rather handsome youngman with a Vita Mix machine (which I now fondly referto as a 2-horsepower lawn mower for food!) introducedme to cantaloupe ice, with seeds and all included. After

two months of this concoction, I had obviously outlivedmy prognosis by six weeks. Hope swept through my




entire being. I was on my journey back to health. Iincluded other fruits as tolerated, then vegetables, andeventually tofu, soy, and whole grains -- in other words,whole foods in a whole food form; back-to-basics realfood nutrition.

There's much more, though. You know how we saythat illness, or wellness, is a whole body experience --

emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually? Well,that same weekend, a close friend took me to a BernieSiegel event -- a full day seminar.

Whew! Absolutely one of the least comfortable days ofmy life that I can remember! Not only on a physical

level, but on every level imaginable. I faced so manythings about myself and my life that I had avoided,ignored, buried, or denied, and otherwise neveraddressed. Cancer personality? Living everyday withendless shoulds, coulds, and woulds? ?Peoplepleaser? be damned! I had things that had to get done!Taking time out for myself? There weren't enough

hours in the day for anything other than family andwork responsibilities! Love my life and have fun? Life isan uphill battle, with no rest until you die! Stopconstantly doing, and start being. Being? What inheaven's name was this crazy doctor talking about?

On the first break, the kind doctor came over to me andasked me my story. Reflecting back, I am quite certain




that the huge block on my shoulder (block versus chip)expressed itself most clearly that day. I had a mostdefinite victim perspective of the whole situation. Poorme. It's not fair! After all I had done for others, alwaysputting them first -- that's right: the great big martyrstory!

Everything bad that could happen to anyone happened

to me! Everything and everyone was doing it to me! Ihad no control and was at the mercy of all of the oddsagainst me. Poor little defenseless damsel in majordistress! Ever meet anyone like that?

None of this deterred the doctor. His kind,

compassionate, and loving gaze truly warmed myheart. He actually listened to me without interruption.And then he asked me a strange question: Did I seecancer as a friend? I was horrified! A friend? Indeednot! He assured me that my response was appropriate,asking what we normally do with a friend. We keep afriend around, of course. So did I see cancer as my

enemy? "Absolutely!" I responded. Hisresponse to his own question of "What do you dowith an enemy?" was that we also keep anenemy around. I sat expressionless, not sure how toreply. He continued saying that we do this from anegative stance; always looking for ways to get even

with them, to get revenge for one thing or another, or just by constant feelings of anger, hate, resentment, or




frustration toward them. I had never thought of it fromthat perspective before. And, without question, I hadspent most of my life with complete anger andresentment toward my mother, whose mental illnessand excessive violent outbursts resulted in massiveturmoil throughout my entire life.

The last, and most provocative, question was -- are

you ready for this one? -- "Can you see canceras your teacher?" I'm sorry, I thought. That was just stretching this whole experience way too far for meat that moment. "Well," he asked,"what do you do with a teacher when you havelearned all that you can from that teacher?" Oh

my goodness. I got it! You release that teacher andmove on to the next teacher. You let go of that teacher,filled with all of the learnings and growth that you havegained, so that you can then be open for the next levelof learning and growth in your life. So then, the bigquestion for me became, "What is this cancer journey trying to teach me?" As Dr. Siegel was

wrapping up our precious moments together thatwonderful and fateful day, he tried to hug me. He trulyis a great hugger! I completely contracted and flinched.

Smiling, he said,"Imagine if a hug a day couldkeep the doctor away, what might ten hugs a day

do?" Quite frankly, hugs were never something Ifelt comfortable giving, or receiving. Well, at least not




to my question. That's right. Answers with an"s"! Life had become so full ofcommitments, perceived obligations, constantbusyness, and a mile-long list of things that I wastolerating -- constantly "shoulding" onmyself -- that I experienced absolutely no joy or lovefor, or in, my life. And I was definitely not having anyfun! I was very clear that all of this had to change. How

was another story. The morning was extremelyovercast and depressing. When I pulled out mygratitude journal to once again try to come up with fivethings I was thankful for, my mind drew a completeblank. Then I remembered the good doctor saying thatif I could think of only one thing to be grateful for, just

write that down five times. At that very moment, thesun forced its beautiful bright smile out from behindthose dense dark clouds, just for a very brief fewseconds. Wow, what a sight! Overwhelmed withgratitude for that exquisite moment of brilliance, Iimmediately wrote it down -- not once, but five times."Thank God for the brilliant sun shining upon me

and helping me to heal my resilient body!"

A month later, I was writing at least a hundred differentgratitudes in my journal, each and every day. A yearlater, I recovered. And to prove that I was on the mend,I ran a mile -- in thirty minutes. Slow, yes, but a huge

step forward from where I was! It's been overseventeen years now, and my life is brim full of




wonderful new adventures and tremendously lovingfriends and associates. I love my life -- and I have lotsof fun! Every day, I awaken filled with gratitude for theopportunity to just be here, to live my purpose, and toexperience purpose for life in general.

Some important laws I've learned, through my journeywith cancer, for creating a healthy, abundant, and

meaningful life, include:

1) Surround yourself with loving people whoexpress gratitude daily for their own lives.

2) Take five -- five minutes -- throughout the

day to just be still and experience thestillness deep within: emotionally, mentally,physically, and spiritually.

3) Live in the moment. The past is like acanceled check, the future like apromissory note, and you cannot do

anything about either one. Today is cashin hand. Spend it wisely. It is the"present" you have been given,to unwrap and thoroughly embraceand enjoy -- moment to moment! So,you see, you can change your

life in an instant.




4) Live every day filled with gratitude. Write atleast five things, large or small, that youare grateful for each day in your ownGratitude Journal. Focusing on the good inyour life creates more of the same.

5) Gratefully take responsibility for your own life,and learn to discern. Ask questions. Go to the

source. Awareness and knowledge, balancedwith some wisdom and a generous dose ofdiscipline, are the cornerstones of a healthy life.

6) Stop "shoulding" on yourself! You havechoices. Make them based on your own

-- no one else's -- dreams, desires, goals,and personality.

7) Celebrate to accelerate (as my close friendTim says). Gratefully honor yourself for yoursuccesses and a job well done. What you focuson expands!

8) Use balanced affirmation statements andvisualization, along with "feelization," toachieve success in anything you do.Feeling your success as you visualize it,before you have actualized it, opens you

up to receiving/creating your desired results.




9) Write a long list of all the people you wantto meet, and another long list of all of thethings you want to do and places youwant to go, before you die. People whodo this generally live long, healthy lives.They have too much to do before they go!

10) See the sunny side of life. Laugh a lot,

especially at yourself. Read Anatomy ofan Illness by Norman Cousins. And watcha lot of funny movies!

11) Do what you love, and love what you do.Be in integrity with who you really are,

not who you think you should be toplease others. Discover your missionand live it with purpose. This isyour birthright!

12) Gratefully be of service to others withlove and generosity. Recognize the

privilege it is to be alive and to beable to co-create, with others, a worldfilled with love, compassion, and gratitudefor everything this life has to offer.

What I discovered during that often frightening, and

most definitely challenging, journey of self-discovery, isthat when I live according to my purpose, with sincere




gratitude for everything that occurs every day, my life isfilled with more love, joy, and abundance than onecould ever imagine. And, as much as I realize that thisis a clich?, it is amazingly true that within everyseemingly dark cloud exists a miraculous silver lining.We just had to be open to see it -- and then to act on it.What do you have to lose? Why not start right now withwhatever is directly in front of you that you feel is an

unfair hand of fate, and ask for the lesson. Then feeland express (in your Gratitude Journal) sincere anddeep gratitude for the answer you receive -- thatanswer may just save your life. It saved mine!

Dr Marilyn Joyce, RD, The Vitality Doctor?, is an

internationally acclaimed inspirational keynote speaker,seminar leader, trainer, writer, radio and televisionpersonality, and one of the world's leading authoritieson overcoming and preventing degenerative illnessesfive minutes at a time. For over thirty years, Dr. Joyce,Registered Dietitian, has been inspiring audiencesaround the world with her lively, information-packed

seminars and workshops, which are loaded withpowerful, proven, quick, and easy strategies forcreating outstanding health and vitality. As a televisionand radio personality on such shows as Doctor toDoctor, Leeza and Jenny Jones, she has touchedhundreds of thousands of lives.




. . .

Marilyn is the author of 5 Minutes to Health, I Can'tBelieve It's Tofu! and the soon-to-be-released InstantEnergy! She is the former Director of Nutrition for theCancer Treatment Centers of America, and is herself afive-time cancer survivor -- now thriver! For moreinformation visit: www.MarilynJoyce.com.

Join the Thank God I…™ Community online to shareyour story and chat with the Thank God I…™ Authors.

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thank god i had cancer by marilyn joyce

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