THE MENTAL GAME OF CANCER

I am going to write within this blog about cancer survival, with a particular emphasis on the Mental Game of cancer.

What do I mean by the 'mental game '?

The 'mental game,' in general applies to any skill, whether the skill involves painting, cross-examination, martial arts, or golf. Essentially, the Mental Game is an intentional mindset, or a proactive mindset. At bottom, it is a chosen mindset.

The mindset needed for cancer survival cannot be described in a single post. We will explore this in many ways on this blog. With that said, as Stephen Covey would say, let's proactively "begin with the end in mind." The "end in mind" for any person diagnosed with cancer is survival. And just like the concept of 'wilderness survival' requires the acquisition of skills, resilience, and focus, so does cancer survival.

In the next few posts, I will discuss further some of the skills necessary for cancer survival, but for now, I only as that you keep an open mind about this topic. In the martial arts, this is called the "beginner's mind," i.e., a willingness to consider ideas that may initially fail to fully resonate, or are even counterintuitive.

Having an intentionally open mind is fundamental to the Mental Game of cancer survival. Without this, the temptation will be to defer to the doctors or fate--What's the point of doing that?