If Only I'd Known

If only I'd known helping others could be such a high.  I'd read that helping others made you feel really good and was good for your health, but I'd never really experienced it.  Maybe simply because I hadn't tried it? I had thought I ought to do some volunteer work, but hadn't .. just too selfish I guess .. or maybe ..well who knows .. I  don't want to indulge myself in too much self criticism - Ha!   But
here's the thing.  I wake up this morning itching and thinking that maybe I'm getting a little carried away with my progress .. maybe I'm really just stable .. not a bad thing .. but I'm about to go off drugs .. the decision's not made but I expect I will make it today, but then I remember I have a secret plan in the works. No I'm not keeping any secrets from you. It's only secret because it has just developed in the last few days and I haven't had a chance to  tell you.  But here it is.  I've contacted my Naturopath Doc in Nova Scotia and have a treatment plan .. which is all natural .. which will replace the drugs.  But, not just replace the drugs.  It will do what the drugs aren't doing: correct the problem.  You see what I'm doing here with the great Johns Hopkins Docs is really just treating the symptoms not the underlying cause.  Not to say that hasn't been discussed with them.  There is some thought that this might be an immune system attack on cancer causing collateral damage to my skin.  But that's on the back burner for now and we're trying to cure the skin disease and then address possible cancer and if we do,  well at my age, 76, probably all men have at least moderate cancer which will not get them before something else, so I think we will end up not worrying about cancer, if these possible symptoms of it go away.  At least that's my hope. And I really don't think it's cancer causing the problem. I'm just not running into that as an explanation on the Internet.  And by now I would.  So I think the Naturopath is right. Of course this is what I want to believe.  The Naturopath tells me, that in her profession's view all skin and immune issues originate in the gut (the GI tract).  So the plan is to address that through diet and re-balance the gut. I'll tell you the details in subsequent posts but, for now, all you need to know is it's very rigorous application of food and drink.  Re-balancing. I like this.  It makes total sense to me since it recognizes that there is an underlying problem that needs to be addressed and does so.  So I'm feeling better as I think about this and then I turn on my computer for my 4 AM Blog writing and some of you have sent me some really nice messages about my last post (Don't Tell Me You're Sorry) and are passing it on to help others. And I got a nice message from a woman like me who couldn't walk and now can. And I read about a guy in Florida who is experiencing this rare disease all alone with no one around who understands or can help and I'm inviting him to come to Johns Hopkins today with me through this Blog. So I'm feeling really good .. on a high .. and I think I may have missed my last Prednisone tabs yesterday and won't take any today til I type the last period in this post so I don't think it's drugs.  The point?  Why does helping others feel so great?  I don't know for sure.  But I don't think it's just a moral issue of overcoming selfishness and the guilt that comes with it to feel good about ourselves.  No, I think it is a feeling of empowerment. A feeling that we can influence events even beyond just ourselves.  And this strongly counteracts the feelings of fear and helplessness that can come with a mysterious disease.  All of  which is good for one's health.
9/25/13
It's now 4AM the next day. I couldn't finish this last night and thought I was just three or four sentences from the end. Finally, figured I didn't really know what I was thinking. Now I've got it. Woke up with these thoughts.  This is either all trivial thinking or something quite profound. Those of you less selfish already know all this and are living your lives accordingly and better.  Or maybe you're not less "selfish" you just know where the joy is and take no credit for what you are doing and believe as I do that this is great fun helping others and there is no need for credit or.  if given. it's just embarrassing because you know that's not why your doing good works, but rather because it's so personally rewarding. Well think of the power of others knowing this secret - doing good, helping others, is the most personally rewarding thing  one can do. (Please note: I've just started this and haven't done much good but think the potential for my doing so is significant here). Bill Gates, the richest man in the world knows how rewarding this is personally. He's now devoting his life to it. And I bet he knows the secret.. this is even more fun than what he was doing before.  But, he is an exception.  Most others in the 1% seem only interested in moving up the Forbes 100 list. And the Banksters running the country through the politicians are only interested in making more money which will bring on the next financial crisis given that they haven't let the country learn from the last like in 1929 so we are more vulnerable than before the last crisis. Trust me on this. I'm not an ideologue on this, just a retired, former CFO who like a majority of those with my experience know of our vulnerability here.  And it's all due to greed. OK. I know, some of you are thinking whew, he's getting way off topic here, Stay with me here. I'm going to wrap this up and it is relevant to this Blog.   The point is the elites are growing at the expense of the 99%. Income distribution is becoming more and more distorted with the CEOs making a multiple 400 x the bottom vs 20 x before (or something like that). The middle class is being destroyed. Not good for the country or the world.  Imagine if the elites of the world discovered this secret. Remember the famous Michael Douglas "Greed is Good" in the movie Wall Street. That's what the 1% must think to live like they live. Though they wouldn't say it.  They must believe that greed is good, or at least necessary for themselves.  Yes there are exceptions. Like Bill Gates and I would say Michael Bloomberg. and plenty more, but the majority of the 1% don't know the secret: doing good is far more personally rewarding than greed.  And what if they learned it.   "There is no more powerful force than an idea whose time has come." I don't know who first said that. Doesn't matter.   I think a revolution is needed in our country. We're on a bad course.  A revolution in the 1%'s thinking could be a peaceful revolution.  Do I expect this tomorrow? No. But it could happen. And that's exciting.   How do we make it happen?  That's really beyond today's post, but great stuff to think about and I'll tell you as soon as I have an answer .. just don't hold your breath.  Yet ..still .. I think there is an answer and that is a very exciting.
So....Yes.....  If only I'd known I may have lived my life differently.  But, no regrets.  And I am grateful for knowing this now when it is such great value to me personally and, I hope, others.