Lessons Learned

I realize that today’s newsletter is arriving a day late, and to be honest, I thought about not writing a post this week. But as I was spending time with my mother last night who is visiting to celebrate her AMAZING recovery, and reflecting on the miracle of her health, this idea came to me.
Today’s post is more about life than jewelry, but hey. It’s all part of the same, don’t you think?  Plus, check out the necklaces my mom and I are wearing. They belong to my TWO newest necklace collections that we will unveil in two weeks!

Today I want to share with you an unusual but simple secret to maintaining or regaining your optimal health, and in doing so, your happiness.  These are the 5 key daily steps we took to bring my mom back to her perfect physical and spiritual health.

Let me start by saying that my mother has always been an example of living a healthy life in terms of nutrition, exercise, sleep, and keeping a strong and loving spiritual perspective.

In late May of this year she felt suddenly very ill and passed out. When my father took her to the hospital she was diagnosed with a life-threatening and incurable left ventricular hypertrophy. She was at an extremely high risk of dying from heart failure any moment.

The diagnosis was quite glum. Her case was un-operable and incurable. All they could do is start a heavy treatment (based entirely on a heavy doses of medication) to stop the hypertension from getting worse. But it was made clear that my mom had to change her life forever:  No more traveling, no exercising, no working, no flying, no running, no going up steps, no laughing hard, no crying hard, nothing that would require her heart to work any harder than the absolute basic.

The thought of having to change 180 degrees her whole way of life was unacceptable not only to her, but to all of us who love her so deeply.
With nothing to lose and everything to gain we made the decision to apply the most basic lesson that is common across most religions and spiritual teachings: To LOVE.
And so, the way our so called “love” translated into our daily routines can be explained through the following 5 key practices that brought my mom from an almost death-sentence to a miraculous recovery of a 100% clean bill of health as of one week ago. Exactly 6 months since she first landed in the hospital:

—  1. Be Grateful: If you are already healthy, take a moment every day to consciously be/feel grateful for your health. Some do it through prayer, others through a brief meditation, or a simple walk with your loved ones or pet. Any activity that allows you to connect with a state of utter gratefulness will do the job. I moved-in with my parents for a month, and during my stay we started every morning holding hands (my mother, my sisters and I), smiling and expressing out loud our deep appreciation for each other, and for the overwhelming parts of my mother’s body that were in perfect health. It’s very easy to loose sight of what is well when ONE thing is looking bad. Gratefulness for your health (when you’re sick) is NOT about pretending that the illness doesn’t exist, but becoming aware of what IS well in our bodies despite the illness.

—  2. Be love: Love and be loved. This is such an over-used expression, and yet it is absolutely and powerfully true. I stand here as a believer in the power of love. I truly believe that love cured my mom above all else. I believe that the cells in our bodies feel the love or the hate, the excitement or the fear, the confidence or lack of self-worth, the admiration or jealousy that we feel in our every-day life. I wish no-one to wait for a life-threatening situation to occur before you decide to let your loved ones know how much you love them, WHAT your love about them, and WHY you love them so much, and to acknowledge and nurture our self-love as well. My mom, sisters and I began writing love letters to each other and to ourselves, and would read them out loud to each other every night before going to bed. We shared many tears of happiness, deep laughs, and unforgettable moments of joy. As much as we think we know how much we mean to others, I assure you that you’ll be surprised to learn how much more you are loved than you thought… and in that discovery, your self-love can’t help but thrive
—  3. Believe: Our imagination is so powerfully linked to our emotions. Most of the emotional pain we feel when we’re sick or a loved one is sick, is due to our imagination rather than the reality of the moment. Imagining the “worst-case-scenario” (before it happens) tends to take hold of our thoughts and emotions. But if we realize that the “worst” hasn’t happened, and in fact, may not happen at all, why not use our imagination to imagine and FEEL the “best case scenario”? If we’re going to be projecting a future that hasn’t happened, it may as well be a good one. A belief is just a thought that we keep thinking. And so, acquiring the belief in HEALTH is all about practicing the thought of health. This requires discipline of thought. My mom, sisters and I committed ourselves (to the best of our abilities) to be mindful of those thoughts about the future.

—  4. Trust: The word “faith” can also be translated as TRUST. Most religions ask us to have faith in the “un-seen”, trust in God, trust in the Universe, TRUST in the wellbeing, trust in the power of our body-cells. Whatever inspires a belief in your wellbeing, choose to trust IT.

—  5. Be your own best friend: Loving yourself means taking care of yourself like never before. As hard as it was for my mom, she did as she was told by her doctors. Against her instincts she stayed in bed for many weeks and moved very little, ate what she was prescribed and religiously followed her medication regiment. And it paid off. More than words can tell.

When her doctors finished their final round of tests just 2 weeks ago they could NOT believe their eyes, nor their minds.  They repeated her tests not two, but three times.  She was not supposed to be healthy, she was not very likely to be ALIVE! These were their words. And yet, we somehow never doubted her wellbeing, even during the most fearful moments.

All is well. Well being DOES abound and love trumps it all.

As I finish this post, I’m watching my mom dancing to the sound of Michael Jackson’s “Beat it”. As if nothing had happened over the last 6 months. Laughing out and loving life.
Life is good. I’m happy and oh so grateful.

If you’ve ever experienced something similar, I’d LOVE to hear your story! Share with us in the comments section below, and if you think this could serve anyone in your life, feel free to share this humble experience.