Living on

 

It is not until you have listened to first-hand accounts of people that have fought to survive that you realise just how strong the human will can be.

This week, I met Sylvia Singo, our cover story, two-time cancer survivor. She affirmed to me just how incredible the human will is. She told me that when the second cancer attack left her close to death in 2002, when she lost her only son during her chemotherapy, after the doctors had told her she was going to die and she was given the last sacrament (she is Catholic), she chose to live. She says she put up a fight, against all odds, to stay alive so she could look after her two grandchildren, left behind by her son and his wife, both deceased.

Today, the vivacious grandmother tells her story to all who need encouragement. Her life is a testimony and she credits this to God and a strong willpower. On Friday, the 4th of February, she walked from Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital to Civic Centre with other cancer activists and as she stood on the podium to tell her story to the people gathered at the event, held in commemoration of the National Cancer Day, my heart swelled with pride because I knew how far she had come and I knew that by opening up about her experiences, she was fulfilling a desire to help others know of cancer.

Isn’t it amazing how incredible the human will is? Is it not amazing that a little decision we make, a choice between shutting down and letting go or standing tall and fighting courageously makes a difference on whether we live or die, whether we are happy or not, whether we have a few kwacha or several millions in our bank account?

It is this human will, coupled with ultimate belief in a higher power, such as God or Allah that gives distinguished triumphs over seemingly, insurmountable adversity.

Norman Vincent Peale, author of the critically acclaimed Power of Positive Thinking, writes; The world in which you live is not primarily dictated outward conditions and circumstances, but by thoughts that habitually occupy your mind. You can actually think yourself into or out of situations. You can make yourself ill with your thoughts and by the same token you can make yourself well by the use of a different and healing types of thought…

To change your circumstances, first start thinking differently. Do not passively accept unsatisfactory circumstances, but form a picture in your mind of circumstances as they should be. Hold that picture, develop it firmly in all details, believe in it, pray about it, work at it and you will actualise it according to that mental image emphasised in your positive thinking.