Fight, Fight Right, Fight Right Now

If you know yourself and you know your enemy, in any battle you can tell if you are going to win or lose.
-Sun Tzu-
I am aware that cancer is near and around but when an aunt’s mother is diagnosed as having colon cancer it strikes me how cancer really is closer to home than I think it is. Having the chance to visit her I asked how she is doing and dealing with the chemotherapy sessions. She has completed four out of six scheduled sessions and fighting it with a lion heart.
Taking a step back and evaluating the whole chronology of her getting to this point I make a conclusion the real enemy is not the cancer itself but us as a person. It is a bliss that she finally listens to her daughter to get a check up after complaining consistently of a stomach ache, indigestion and irregular bowling. Before that she keeps holding on to the fact it is a normal thing to happen to her and that it will go sooner or later. She even has this idea that the pain is of a witch crime and demands to be taken to a shaman for treatments.
After diagnosis and put into chemotherapy program she did complain a lot in the beginning but her daughter has persuaded her that it is necessary for her to go through the process to get better and that she must change her psychology if she wants to get better faster.
It has always been us who jeopardize ourselves and well being. It is understood that the carcinogens in the environment including the food we are taking is developing very fast and increasing in numbers year after year. Thus we should be aware of the potential of us being strike by cancer at any time. Should we be stricken by cancer it better happens when we are ready an on guard to combat it. We do not want to be hit in the dark.
Let us start from an individual to begin with. We cannot deny the fact that nowadays everyone has a general idea about cancer and obtaining any more details is not at all impossible. Yet the information stays as information and only occasionally transfers into knowledge and used in life for good.
Each of us know we should have at least three sessions of twenty minutes exercise per week but how many put this into action. Make it a point to exercise. Mentioning exercise alone would make a person frown and pout.
“I am healthy as I am,” will be the reasoning.
Some said they are happy with their size although obviously they are obese and others are just shy for no apparent reasons. Exercise is seen as a strenuous activity and meant only for those who wanted to be athletes, fat people and people with certain disease that requires them to exercise as treatments or just for those who wanted to show off they are healthy. With a mentality like this it is going to take a long time before that paradigm shift of a healthier living and lifestyle can take place.
Another interesting outburst of rejection is when we want to start healthy eating. The idea of healthy eating has always been eating tasteless, bland food when actually there is more to it.
We should eat to keep us living, not to kill ourselves by putting in more ‘poison’ that will enrich and bring to life the ‘monster’ that is already in us, waiting for the right time to get up and hit us hard. There is nothing wrong with all the food should it be boiled, steamed or even deep fried. You can have everything that you want yet eat for pleasure. Do not eat excessively that is where the devils lie. Eat moderately and we can eat for many years to come.
These two points explain a lot of why people easily choose slimming pills to lose weight only to realize the pills cause them cancer later on.
The government and many responsible bodies are trying their best to lower the risk of people having cancer by promoting various campaigns and never stop to create public awareness. Many pamphlets are distributed on how we can avoid ourselves from cancer. Other than exercise and eating well there is self examination.
We should not be shy to examine ourselves or have it checked by trained medical staffs. It is of a magnanimous importance to detect cancer as early as possible before it is too late. Some are reluctant to have themselves examined because they believe if they do not search for it, they will not have to find it. Why ones should wastes his money for a check up when he is seemingly perfectly healthy? This way of thinking must be discarded at once if we really are moving towards a healthy nation as a developing country towards 2020.
It will be unfortunate enough to be diagnosed with cancer but giving up is not an option. Many researches have been carried out to cure cancer and the medical field has soared with the findings through science and technology. In fighting cancer it is not just the science but psychology as well. While the science fight the cancer only a strong will heart can make it effective and curing. It is after all, mind over body.
Looking it from multiple angles of perspectives the solution seems to stem from one source: education and can only be sustained if we are willing to change our attitude towards it and a little discipline to walk hand in hand. Starting something that is right in any case is not easy. However we do not have to do it alone. And since everything comes down to what we see and how we see it, a little twist of mind to tune it into a more positive one is timely.
We must first understand that we are all potential cancer victims. The hazard is already there but we are in full capacity of keeping the risks at the lowest level possible.
Exercise does not have to be strenuous, it can be a joyful moment of us spending some time alone with ourselves and it is reported that those who has enough time for themselves becomes more productive at work, a better spouse/ partner and a more confident person.
If we are the type that enjoys company, we can always kill two birds with one stone. Take our family or friends out for exercise. Besides getting healthier we can spend more quality time together.
For a beginning choose a simple exercise like brisk walking or jogging or something fun like aerobic does the trick.
As for eating, vary the colours. Take more vegetables and fruit. Reduce the fat and carbohydrates. The presentation of the dish is as essential as its preparation. Train our children to choose a healthier food over junk food. For instance a slice of honey dew as a substitute of a bar of chocolate and a glass of carrot juice instead of a can of bicarbonate drinks.
Until today my parents never cease to encourage us in taking healthy food. My father always cut some fruits and has them arranged in a plate so beautiful I cannot help myself from wanting to reach for a slice and taste it. So it goes for vegetables. When cooking my mother used to ask us to help her in the kitchen with the vegetables and during the session she will intrigue our mind with how delicious the vegetables are that our mouths are watering before the dish is served.
I have continued Self Breast Examination after an introduction to breast cancer in school and understand its importance. There is no harm to taking a precautious step. If something is going to happen is it not better that we catch it red handed and get rid of it instantaneously? If that is not a very pleasing idea, change the way you see it. Look at it as a confirmation that we are perfectly healthy and have more reasons to count our blessings. If money is the issue I can assure you that falling sick requires more than you can imagine once it occurs.
In taking medication, I would suggest that we restrict ourselves to well researched, qualified and certified products trusted by medical staffs or stick to prescribed medicine only. It is not worth gambling your health. What is the use of having a slim body and suffer for intestinal cancer or even a kidney failure?
Nothing is impossible if we put our mind into it. It is about making a choice. We should take our time to nurture our body and pay attention to its demand on us. When we have found and understood the real culprit, fighting it is no longer a battle. We must fight the I-do- not- care attitude, fight it right and fight it right now. Together we will win this battle against attitude cancer.