100 Perks of Having Cancer: Plus 100 Health Tips for Surviving It (26 page)

upon by the females in my family like a pack of

wolves. Prior to getting cancer, I was lucky to walk

away with half a tube of Dior mascara. Trust me,

you would not want to come between my nieces

Krissy and Cassie when there is a Chanel purse on the line! Things

can turn ugly pretty quickly. You can only imagine how moved I

It is okay to use

was then, when Mom and Dad came to visit with a big box from

your cancer to

Florida and a handwritten note from Lynette saying, “Make sure

get free stuff.

Florence gets first pick of the fodge!” I had Coach purses coming

out the yin yang!

HEALTH TIP #23

Find a Healthy Place for Those Get-Well Gifts

W
e know they mean well and they love us, but it’s hard to find a place

for all those candles, figurines, and crystal pink “hope angels” that

friends and loved ones give us during our illness. Generally speaking, we

all acquire lots of “stuff” from many different places in the course of our

lives. Some of it is treasure and some of it is trash.

I 100 J

Perk #23: I Got First Pick of “the Fodge”

101

According to the rules of feng shui (pronounced “fung-

shway”), the ancient Chinese art of object arranging, how we

choose to display our “stuff” can have a profound positive

impact on all the areas of our lives.

Feng shui is not a superstition or a new age religion. (And

besides, I don’t think any religion anywhere forbids home dec-

orating.) It is the traditional Chinese practice, started around

1,100 BC, which states that in order to enhance your positive

life force, or chi (pronounced “chee”), you must exist in har-

mony with nature, clear your surroundings, and in turn, clear

your life of negativity. Negativity could present itself as a simple picture in

your home that reminds you of something unpleasant, or as an annoying,

uncomfortable chair. By clearing and rearranging your surroundings, you

allow the chi, or life energy, to flow freely and harmonize with your envi-

ronment, thereby allowing good things—health, positive relationships,

good fortune, and more—to come into your life.

The interesting thing about this ancient art is that of all the aspects of

your life, such as wealth, family, and creativity, it is the
health
aspect that

remains the center of all the other areas. Health touches all other areas of

your life and has a direct and profound effect on each one.

This makes perfect logical sense. If you don’t have your health, including

physical, mental, and spiritual health, then all the other things, like career,

love, and family, will suffer. Your health must come first and be the

primary focus of your life. In feng shui, the

health sector is the “building block of all gen-

eral well-being.”

This grid is called a Bagua template. You

can use this “map” to find the sections in your

house or the sections in a particular room that

relate to each aspect of your life. A good com-

pass will help you find the true north and

south and will guide you to each of the sec-

tions. By arranging things according to the

template in each section of your home, it can

positively affect those areas of your life.

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100 Perks of Having Cancer

The center of your home represents the “health” section of the Bagua

template. It is the area that holds and sustains your physical and emotional

energies. There are certain items, properly placed, that will enhance your

“health sector.” Luckily, these items are just the kinds of things you probably

have gotten from well-wishers! Making an arrangement with the following

things in the center of the room, like on a coffee table or on a small table

in the center of your home (like in the hallway or against a center wall),

will enhance this sector. You can pick and choose from the list:

●
a collection of potted plants (the greener the better)

●
crystals or rocks (a great place for the pink crystal angel!)

●
shades of yellow (it can be those dandelions your child picked for you)

●
pictures of mountains or the world (you must have at least twenty get-

well cards with mountain scenes on them, don’t you?)

●
bowls of fruit (Great! You just got that fruit basket from your neighbor!

Extra points if it contains peaches, as these are the Chinese fruit associated

with longevity and health.)

●
religious objects (angel, saint, Buddha, or cross figures would work well

here)

●
humorous touch (any fun photo or item, but I’ll leave it up to you

whether that whoopee cushion your brother gave to you makes the cut)

You don’t have to include all these items in the center area,

but with a list like this, you can certainly come up with a nice

Feng shui

arrangement using lots of your “stuff.” And this way, the gift givers

gives you an

are really helping your health!

unconventional

There is so much more to feng shui than just placing objects on

way to use gifts

a table. People spend years learning the intricacies of mastering it.

from well-wishers

If you are interested, there are many books and online resources

to improve your

you can find to learn more about this interesting and life-enhancing

health.

art. There is even a
Feng Shui For Dummies
(no offense).

Happiness is a “free chi.”

Perk #24

I Could Watch My Favorite

Movie Anytime I Felt Like It

W
hat was a grown woman doing watching
Mama Mia
in the middle of

the day . . . for the third time in a week? Hey, I had cancer.
Mama Mia

made me feel good.

Shortly after my diagnosis, my daughter and I headed out to Walmart

to stock up on DVDs. I figured that I would have plenty of downtime (both

literally and figuratively) in the coming months, so I would need something

to keep me busy. I am also a firm believer that laughter is the best medicine.

Studies have shown that laughter boosts the immune system, relaxes mus-

cles, reduces pain, elevates mood, and relieves anxiety and stress. (Not to

mention, watching movies provides a great distraction from

thinking about the Big C.) Some cancer centers actually use a

Need a pick-me-

form of therapy called laughter therapy as a tool to promote

upper? Watch your