Life is full of stresses that tire us out and sometimes hold us back from our dreams and goals. Very few things in life can be as devastating as being diagnosed with cancer and having to undergo lengthy and exhausting treatments. Sometimes making that doctor’s appointment or going to the next radiation treatment just seems insurmountable, when all we want to do is curl up in bed and wish it all away.
Family and loved ones try to be supportive, but they don’t really understand what it feels like to be diagnosed with a form of cancer such as mesothelioma, for instance. What could be more troubling than the realities associated with an aggressive tumor, or some other kind of cancer? They don’t know what the treatments feel like and how draining they are. It’s hard, sometimes, to see that they’re tired too. They’re exhausted from worry and maybe care-giving as well. Trying to function adequately at work when their thoughts are home with their sick loved one is so stressful and fatiguing. It’s a nightmare for everyone involved.
It’s so hard to focus on what matters most when faced with fear and indecision. In these confusing moments, a life coach can change everything. That face-to-face meeting or that regular telephone call will be a ray of sunshine in the darkness that is cancer. Sometimes getting away from everything for a short time can have a profoundly positive effect on the way a person thinks and feels. Life coaching can be of great benefit to some cancer sufferers. Some sessions even involve retreats, but their beneficial effects don’t stop at the door. Follow-up communications provide the grounding and stability to set and reach personal health-care goals.
Illness of any kind depresses both the mind and the body, but something as potentially life-threatening as cancer can stop us in our tracks. Friends and loved ones, in an effort to be supportive, might tell us not to think about it or to just stay positive, when all they’re really doing is making us feel more alone. Life coaches are more objective. They listen to our fears and concerns without judgment or criticism. It is important to remember that coaching cannot provide us with a longer mesothelioma life expectancy or extend prognoses associated with other cancers, but they can certainly help ease the mind and put us in the best position to make important decisions., They don’t tell us what our priorities should be. They help us turn our fears and doubts into motivation. They help us make our own priorities.
Life coaching will provide the focus and energy to beat this dreadful disease. There’s no reason to feel to alone and helpless. By reaching out to a life coach, we can take control again. Cancer can be defeated.
By Emily Walsh
