The Dance of Cells
As individuals we are constantly deciding what to tell ourselves and this directly affects both our physical and emotional experience in life. Just watch people at an airport after they’ve heard their plane is delayed if you want to see an easy example of this. Some of the passengers will take the opportunity to dig into a new book, others will chat up their neighbors, and a few will pace the floor steaming when they aren’t harassing the flight attendants. The external environment these people are sharing is the same, however their response creates a starkly different physical and emotional reaction.
People react so differently to the same situation because they hold disparate beliefs about themselves and the world and are bathing their cells in an emotional tone that reflects those beliefs. The person who chats up a neighbor finds life interesting and full of opportunity; you never know whom you might meet in an airport. Conversation brings connection and feelings of bonding and those feelings are carried to the cells. Contrast this with the person who is pacing the floor, cursing fate, and thinking, “This always happens to me, incompetent airlines,” all the while showing his cells that the world is an irritating place.
Since what we believe and perceive directs the environment that bathes the cells, and since cells are the building blocks of each human being, beliefs are THE most important ingredient in creating each one of us. Life becomes mutable when you realize this.
And more exciting. Instead of being stagnant physical forms, we are constantly being reborn, like a flickering candle flame that is always moving.
We are never stuck in a body, regardless of how stuck we feel. This is a challenging concept whenever someone faces a long -term illness that is unrelenting. It takes extreme stamina to wake up every day in a body experiencing discomfort and still decide to do the best you can. You need a mountain of gumption to continue to be hopeful in the face of day after day of pain. The unfortunate fact is that we don’t get to choose illness, it chooses us. We do, however, get to choose how we act when facing disease, just like choosing how to respond to a delay at the airport. The physical body will respond.
It’s too simple to say that positive thinking can cure illness and that just believing will make it happen. Choosing to believe in possibilities, however, will make the experience a whole lot more fun and our cells will hear this. The belief in the possibility of healing changes the emotional landscape in the body, making it easier for healing to happen.
Think of cells as people at a concert. Imagine the cells attending a punk rock concert, jumping around and hitting each other. This is like a frustrated response to disease. Now imagine the cells at a James Taylor concert, gently moving to the tune. This is like a calm response. Say one of the cells (people) needed to use the restroom. At which concert would it be easier to do this? When facing disease, there is a lot that the body needs to accomplish, repairing the damage that illness creates. We can affect how well the body does this by using our minds and emotions, our humanness, and remembering the mutability of life. Allowing our cells to sway to gentle music we bring in the possibility of health with each breath we take.
