“I don’t understand why you don’t have any problems with Lupus. Lupus is serious,” my almost-23 year old daughter said to me as we were chatting in the RV.

“I can’t say for sure, but I think it’s because I don’t believe I have it,” I nonchalantly explained.

“You can’t just say that.” She was incredulous. “You can’t just say you don’t have a disease and then it goes away.”

“I’m not saying I don’t have symptoms every now and again; I see them every once in a while. But I don’t identify as someone with Lupus, so I don’t live like someone who has complications with Lupus. But I do live my life as someone who has been told that her body can work against her. I changed my lifestyle when I got that diagnosis. I eat more unprocessed food than not. I exercise regularly. I take care of myself because I don’t want complications from Lupus. Lupus is not a part of my identity.”

I thought I sounded crazy saying that. I was like, “Where did that come from?” until I read these words recently in Eckhart Tolle’s book The Power of Now:

As there are no problems in the Now, there is no illnesss either. The belief in a label that someone attaches to your condition keeps the condition in place, empowers it, and makes a seemingly solid reality out of a temporary imbalance. It gives it not only reality and solidity but also a continuity in time that it did not have before. By focusing on this instant and refraining from labeling it mentally, illness is reduced to one or several of these factors: physical pain, weakness, discomfort, or disability.

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He’s essentially confirming what I have innately believed: when we think we have a specific condition, or we think we are a specific way, we will make it so. We act in a way that is stereotypical to the thing we think we have. It’s the difference between people who sees themselves as victims to life and people who don’t.

I think when we identify with a disease or illness, we are essentially giving it power over us. We begin thinking and acting in a way that aligns with what we expect someone with that disease or illness to do.

When I am tired, I don’t think, “Oh, Lupus is acting up.” People without Lupus don’t think that. Instead, I think, “I need a nap. I need to rest. I need to limit the sun a little more, be more diligent with my sunscreen. I need to eat better, drink more water.” I recognize that I have a symptom of something that needs tending to, but I rarely attribute that to having Lupus.

I feel more empowered to take action to take care of myself rather than feeling like I’m a victim–like I don’t have control over my body.

When I was first diagnosed with Lupus 10+ years ago, I started doing some research. I learned that some researchers believed autoimmune diseases were caused by environmental factors–one being the food we eat. These researchers believed that eating processed food–food with chemicals, additives, and lots of sugar–permeated our gut linings, got into our bloodstreams, and created chaos for our bodies. And that if we changed the way we ate, we could mitigate, if not “cure” autoimmune diseases.

So, I changed the way I ate, eliminating as many processed ingredients as I could.

I’m not perfect. I still eat food that I know I shouldn’t, but I am proud to say that most of my diet consists of real, whole foods. I eat mainly food I prepare at home. I exercise regularly and drink lots of water. I take vitamins. I take my medication (mostly!). I see my doctor twice a year. I do all of this because I identify–I think of myself–as a healthy person who takes care of herself. Not someone who is sick & tending to a disease.

I can’t say for sure this is why I don’t have many complications with Lupus. I can’t say that I believe you can just think and believe your way out of any health issue. Sometimes our bodies do turn on us despite our best efforts.

But do I think there is some truth to the idea that sometimes we make illnesses and diseases become part of our sense of self, and when we do that, we hand over our power to that malady?

Yes. Yes I do.

Case in point: I watched my 39 year old brother-in-law get diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and be pronounced cancer free less than 12 months later. That man never stopped living like he was healthy. He continued working. He continued hunting and fishing and going on his adventure trips. He continued doing all the things he did when he was cancer-free. He showed up for his treatments. He followed the diet protocol.

Did he get lucky? Maybe.

Or did he give himself an extra edge by refusing to identify himself as a man who was potentially dying from cancer?

True surrender…does not mean to passively put up with whatever situation you find yourself in and to do nothing about it. Nor does it mean to cease making plans or initiating positive action. Surrender is the simple but profound wisdom of yielding to rather than opposing the flow of life.

Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now

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As a life coach, I help my clients transform their lives by teaching them how to change the thoughts they think and the food they eat so that they can create their best lives from the inside out.

Click HERE to schedule a FREE discovery call where we can talk about what’s going on for you and about how I can help.

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