The trust and comfort of family and friends can provide a lifeline and a healing presence during illness. The widespread existence of single households in the modern world leads to the loss of connectedness. Persistent loneliness can cause cardiovascular, hormonal, and immune problems; it can be as threatening as cigarettes, excess alcohol, or obesity. The adverse health consequences are especially dangerous during this time.
Twenty-five years ago, I was pregnant with my third child. I came down with an intestinal infection, which caused severe diarrhea. A potent antibiotic, which would have treated the problem was out of the question. Every day for eight months of pregnancy and ten months of nursing, I would invariably be miserable and exhausted by 10 am. Constant diarrhea and the resulting hemorrhoids depleted my physical and mental energies. I was depressed. In my helplessness and isolation, I scarcely remembered my past and was not able to comprehend or even be interested in the future. Life became a blur of tentative actions to last until the next emergency that I came to expect.
When my son was ten months old, antibiotic treatment restored my health, almost overnight. The difficulties of that year were manageable because of my closeness to my family. Intimate relationships are essential for life and become even more meaningful at the intersection of life and death. Our vulnerability nurtures our closeness with those dearest to us. Secure social connections with loved ones provide an emotional strength that ties the patient to the living.
Like threads in a fabric, all living things and people form an essential interdependence. The richness of existence depends on all of the components of every color yarn. As missing threads create a hole, living things leave a hole behind. According to a foremost cancer physician, David Smithers, the quality of the social milieu has a crucial role in healing. Your survival might depend on your ability to rally friends, family, and coworkers’ support. Advocating on your behalf, they create a climate of moral support. The appeal to take care of one another is vivid in Romans 12:15 (ESV), “Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.”
Socrates reminds us that “an unexamined life is not worth living.” Sometimes a disease that brings death into a close-up view is the best inspiration to discover a more personal relationship to life. Humanity has an innate hunger for meaning in every occurrence of life. Since ancient times, we used the arts and religion to wash off the dust of every day and transcend onto a higher intellectual plane. Recognizing the regularity in the cycles of the natural environment, formed our earliest belief systems, and encouraged the beginning of worship. Religion and spirituality immerse the soul within the mysteries of the universe and society.
My straightforward handbook, The Power of Joy, gives you the tools and advice you need to liberate yourself from your negativity and become the best version of yourself. Now you can find it on Amazon.
Copyright © 2020 by Eva Deli
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