Thursday, February 16, 2012

Spirituality has helped to Overcome Cystic Fibrosis

Below is a guest article from one of my readers. Jenna is a recent college graduate who shares my interest in English. I love how this blog can be a vehicle for others to share their motivational ideas, dreams, and life stories so that others can learn to better cope with chronic diseases. Thank you Jenna for your submission.

It’s a very tall order to try and find some spiritual guidance and inspiration, when you’re living with diseases, such as pericardial mesothelioma, that affect a person’s quality of life. But for many people who live with the condition known as Cystic Fibrosis, learning to live with the condition simply by coping with it isn’t quite enough.

Many individuals who are diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis, not only learn to cope with the disease, also turn to faith, religion, and spirituality as part of their way to face down the disease each and every day. These individuals, who are diagnosed with this condition, use faith as a way to find some meaning to their lives.

Seeking faith through spirituality is one way an individual is able to go beyond one’s personal self, while finding meaning in the idea that maybe there is something beyond the material aspect of our everyday life. Another effective method that individuals can use to help with coping with the effects of Cystic Fibrosis is meditation.

The effects of meditation on a person’s mental well being and overall health have been well documented in several case studies, and the results are that meditation along with other spiritual pursuits such as just simply communing with nature or doing some type of artistic work can help someone with the disease find a path to better health.

We often forget or in many cases ignore the effects that our mental health can have over our physical wellbeing. Depression and anxiety are major cause factors in our body’s overall physical health.
 

Many times in life we forget about our faith, as our lives become too busy with the pursuit of all things material. Unfortunately sometimes it takes something devastating to happen before we understand the importance that faith can play in our overall outlook on life and how we choose to deal with a disease such as Cystic Fibrosis.

By Jenna Walters