Than what disease a person has.
Have you ever noticed, how people get colds, flu and other physical illnesses, during times of stress? Have you also noticed how you physically feel during a traumatic situation? What happens to your body when you stress up? How do you feel, after you had just lost your temper? How do you feel, when you are at the receiving end of a lost temper? How do you feel after you have just learned that someone you trust implicitly, has betrayed you?
You see, how we respond to each of these negative experiences, determines the chemicals that run through our systems. Every thought we have, creates an emotion. And every emotion we have, creates an associated chemical.
The more toxic, the emotions we have, the more toxic and potentially lethal, chemicals we create in our bodies.
Many people, myself included, believe that physical disease comes from mental dis-ease. I am living proof of this. When I was clinically depressed, I was also physically ill. My illnesses included, diabetes, high cholesterol, blood pressure, ulcers, skin eruptions to name a few.
One day, after my right lower-leg was amputated, through gangrene and diabetes, the nursing sister on duty came up to my bed and said:"You know Mister Hartslief, I have been a nurse for many years and I believe, that what I'm about to tell you, will have one of two responses. One response will kill you! and the other response may lengthen your life. Unfortunately, the first reaction is far more popular and the second one has much fewer takers." My body was in pain and I was in no mood to play silly games, I did however ask her to explain, and so she did:"Hundreds of amputees have laid in that exact same bed, would you like to know what I told them? I replied that I did, so she explained:" You have not gotten up for several days now, preferring to do all your "ablutions" etc. from there.
So here is the gospel according to Sister Lindsay Stone, if you don't get up from that bed right now, it will kill you!"
That was it, it was short but had a profound sense of finality to it.
Just before leaving my bed-side, she said these few words which have stayed with me for 7 years and have inspired me to bear ever forward through tremendous odds, these were the words:"What you decide to do, will always be your choice, but I would be overjoyed, if you decide to rise up and make an almighty grab for life!
Since that exact moment, I became mentally tougher and emotionally happier and I noticed, that the longer I live, the younger I seem to be getting.
