Admit it — you’ve prayed that your team would totally beat the pants off of their rivals, haven’t you?
I know I have, but I’ve got a secret for you — God doesn’t care about football.
How about your delinquent bills and clogged arteries? I have yet to see someone that is “miraculously cured” of their atherosclerosis or “saved” from crippling debt.
We can’t expect God to solve a problem that we created!
People talk about a getting a spiritual power-up when they’re in a bad place. Can that be true? There doesn’t seem to be a lot of difference between praying to win and praying to get better, does there?
A friend of mine told me about a guy with multiple sclerosis (MS) that was in a wheelchair. His disease had progressed to a point where he was unable to function under his own power. Now, I have MS, so he wouldn’t kid around — at least not about that.
The way the story goes is that this person “got a message from God” and was suddenly healed. He no longer needed his wheelchair — just like that! I want to believe it with every inch of my being, but I just can’t get there.
Am I not worthy of holy relief? Does God need his ego stroked before he’ll throw me a bone?
It’s hard to make the leap to “miracle” even though I think this guy was being honest with me. As much as I wanted to believe it was true, it didn’t seem feasible.
Can a disease, or at least the symptoms, be reversed from faith alone? Could there be another explanation for what he’s reporting?
You don’t see fat people get skinny for no reason or deep-fried Twinkie fanatics not die of heart attacks.
Doesn’t God care about them?
“Never underestimate the power of The Schwartz.” – Yogurt
I remember when Tiger Woods was unbeatable. He seemed like a freak-of-nature. Remember? That’s why he still makes millions of dollars in endorsements.
But then… he got caught indulging (and yes, I’m skipping the details) and his career fizzled, but not before his wife put a golf club through his windshield.
Nothing changed physically, right? Just psychologically.
I’m continuously fascinated by young golfers that seem like they can drive the ball straight and for miles. What makes them different? Their bodies aren’t totally mature so they’re not as strong as the older golfers, and yet they still do it.
Could it be that they’re naïve and truly believe that they can only hit the ball straight and far? Or more likely, that they can’t screw it up. That the only possibility is for the ball to go in the hole as long as they do the things they’ve been taught over the years?
Doesn’t it make sense that they never consider that they could screw up a three-hole lead because they’ve never had that experience? That life experience?
This is how the placebo effect works. Nobody seems to talk about WHY it happens but doctors and the FDA are worried that it DOES happen. They make every effort to eliminate it as a possibility during drug trials.
You believe that this new treatment could be a miracle cure. That it’s going to make all of the other medicines seem like Sweet Tarts… or cod liver oil.
Why?
Because there is no reason to believe otherwise. It has never been proven NOT to work and it hasn’t been on the market so you’ve never heard of it — good or bad. You’ve never seen the mixed reviews.
The only option is that it will work. Just like those young golfers, you’ve never had that doubt seed planted.
Did they finally figure things out and you are among the first to benefit from this new wonder drug? It’s like a dream!
Wouldn’t that be nice?
Back to Tiger, doesn’t it make sense that “getting in your head” is all about reminding you that failure IS an option?
Or that the placebo effect is about believing that failure is NOT a possibility? That you expect it to work wonders?
According to WebMD, “One of the most common theories is that the placebo effect is due to a person’s expectations.”
Expectations.
So how would you go about believing something with all of your heart? How do you, deep down, convince yourself that failure is NOT a possibility?
“To make something special, you just have to believe it’s special.” – Mr. Ping
One way is to believe that God will take care of it. He will heal you and having faith means there is no other option. But you need to have unquestioned faith.
Unquestioned.
Another way is to form new memories.
Emotions play a big part of how we remember things. Those emotions can change and, as a result, our beliefs can change. Just ask Brian Williams.
When we tell a story about something that happened and someone else was there — witnessing the same event — our recollections will certainly be different. Why is that?
It’s emotions.
We’re not talking about daily affirmations, here — well, not entirely. You need to get all of your senses and emotions involved in producing the memory.
For example, it’s been shown that people who visualize perfect free-throws do as well as those that practice the real thing. Running it in your head, again and again, just the way you want it to go, leads to a strong belief and better results.
But it’s not just the movie you play in your head – you have to get your senses involved.
Let’s start with what you see; we’re not talking about a memory of you watching someone else do it! You have to imagine that it’s you that’s going through the motions. When you’re picturing it, it should be from your vantage point — in the first person. As real as possible.
What does it sound like? In the basketball example, are you hearing the sound of a “swish” as the ball goes through the net? Maybe it’s cheering.
How does the ball feel in your hands? How warm is it? What does it smell like?
That’s what a memory is. That’s what dreams are. The more support and memories you can provide, the more real it becomes.
Next, let’s talk about proof. The object here is not to tell yourself something that your brain can quickly discount. You have to give yourself evidence that it’s true.
If I was telling myself that free-throws come easy to me, I would remember that time (even if it was one out of 100) that I swished a free-throw. I’m supporting the belief with a memory.
The proof is in the pudding, right?
I’ve said before that changing your perception of how people see you — your brand — will change the way you behave.
So is this possible when we’re talking about physical conditions, too? My experience is yes (within reason)!
Doesn’t it make sense that your body knows how to heal itself? We know that our DNA can repair itself. We know that vaccines work by teaching our bodies what the offender looks like so they can kill it on site. We know that the placebo effect is a real phenomenon.
Just provide the beliefs and make sure your body has the tools it needs.
No one said it was going to be easy, but it IS something you can accomplish.
Create a belief that what you’re doing will absolutely work and there is no possibility of failure.
I’d love to hear your success stories.
Jim Turk, of beatmydisease.com, has been featured in several publications, on the radio, and on TV. He was diagnosed with MS in 2008 and has used his research background and positive attitude to help people make lemonade from lemons. You can learn more about Jim’s methods and get his free CONTROL video series here.
