Loverboy

Listen up, ladies...I am a lover, ain't a fighter...

They are many ways to tackle cancer. Some treat it as a war with the cancer cells; a fight to the finish! I can't bring myself up to do that. Somehow I feel my cancer cells are suffering too. I prefer to live in harmony with them. If they find my body a hostile environment to them; that I am irritatingly too kind to them and they want to go away and leave me, I will set them free. :)

I like the story Dr Phang Cheng Kar compiled in his book "Don't worry, be healthy". The summary of story:

There was once a demon who fed on the anger of others. As his feeding ground was the human world, there was no lack of food for him. It is so easy to provoke people and countries to quarrel and fight, so the demon grew fat and happy.

One day, feeling bored, a thought came to him;" Hey, what if I do this to the gods?" So he chose to provoke anger in the realms of the gods. He went to sit on the throne of the Sakka, the King of Gods during the king's absence. The other gods saw this and became angry and tried to chase the demon away. The more hostile the gods become, the bigger it grew in size, strength and power. As he grew bigger, the gods became weaker...

Then Sakka came home to his castle and throne. He saw the demon, and instead of getting angry, Sakka said,"Welcome, friend! May I offer you the drink of hospitality?" Sakka continues to be friendly, and the demon rapidly shrank to a diminutive size and finally disappear in the face of such goodwill!

Dr Phang, at the end of the story, asked if illness like cancer behave like the demon; the more hostile and wish to drive them away, the worse they would be. The more we welcome them with compassion and let go, they will disappear and let go of us. It does not mean we don't seek treatment; it means we try our best and leave the rest with nature.

I think the strategy of tackling a disease is best chosen based on the personality of the person. Me? I am a lover, ain't a fighter..hehe ;)