Thriver Soup Thursdays–Atop Notmilkman’s Recommended Reading List

About, ,

Guest column by Robert Cohen of notmilk.com

The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.

― Dr. Seuss, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!

There is a phrase which keeps reverberating within my mind: “The New Bible”. I am appropriately worried that if I refer to a new book by assigning such a reverential subtitle, I will antagonize some people who read only a single book in their lives, so I will change my review to “A New Bible” while still believing it to be one of the most, if not, THE most significant book ever written.

This past week, I read three books; Once a Cop by Corey Pegues, once a New York City drug-dealing thug who never got caught for his crimes, and became a police officer, rising to one of the highest ranking officials of the New York City Police department.

Five Presidents by Clint Hill, the secret service agent who was splattered with the blood of John Kennedy whose assassination he was unable to prevent.

Mary’s Mosaic, by Peter Janney, the son of a top CIA agent who gained access to convincing documentation regarding the killing of Mary Pinchot, JFK’s lover (confirmed by her brother-in-law, editor Ben Bradley of the Washington Post). Janney knew the woman quite well during his growing up years and was best friends with Mary’s son.

Finally, the point of today’s column. I have been learning from my fourth book of the week, and while the first three were fascinating and enjoyable reads, I’ve had to readjust my usual “publication attack” mode of “speed reading” to the “savor, enjoy, and digest every word” mode.

The book that I have just finished is Thriver Soup by Heidi Bright. I first heard Heidi promoting that book on the public access radio show of WFAN, New York’s largest-heard radio station. One Sunday 7:00 a.m. morning, host Bob Salter interviewed Heidi and I could not turn the show off and could not wait to read her book!

I heard of a new phrase recently: “Radical Remission”.

I read about a new cure recently: “Thriver Soup”.

I made a new friend recently: “Heidi Bright”.

You want to read and refer back to Heidi’s inspiring book in case a loved one (you are included in this group) ever becomes challenged by a cancer which requires banishment. As one book reviewer recently said:

“She’s written Thriver Soup with 250 tips for remission.”

I cannot put my finger on any one of those tips by labeling it more important than the others although the advice given on page 269 is brilliant, and a way to avoid a trap many victims fall into:

“If a person suggests something is a cure for cancer, skip it. If it truly cured cancer, everyone would know about it quickly enough”.

Although the greatest part of this book explores the spiritual, you must also demand the practical. If you should be diagnosed with a cancer, do not hesitate as others do. Instead, do what Heidi suggests on page 94:

“I think obtaining at least a second opinion-if not more-is essential.” On every step of her journey, Heidi insisted on three opinions. If and when insurance companies do not honor a request, “appeal your case”.

Reading the book in its entirety can turn a one-way journey to the land of cancer into a roundtrip from “hell and back again” to “health and healing”. This is a book to have and to hold for when it is needed, just as one might hoard healing medicines.

Unlike most books, which I end up giving to friends after finishing, this one is a keeper. My friends must purchase their own copy and can do so by saying hello to the author and picking up a copy of THE book:

http://www.ThriverSoup.com

or emailing Heidi: Heidi@ThriverSoup.com

I just know that I will continue sipping “Thriver Soup”.

* * * *

“If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.”

– Oscar Wilde

Fearless Fabulous You

Conventional Methods

His high endeavors are an inward light / That makes the path before him always bright.

William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

 

fearless fab copyThe high endeavors of many women who light pathways for others are featured by Melanie Young on her weekly “Fearless Fabulous You!” show. My story was included this past Monday.

http://www.iheart.com/show/209-Fearless-Fabulous-You/?episode_id=27548445

Melanie Young wrote, “Diagnosed with a rare and aggressive cancer, Heidi Bright endured 24 months of treatments and a dire prognosis. Now in radical remission she’s written Thriver Soup with more than 250 practical tips for healing.”

May my high endeavors bring light to your path.

Thriver Soup Ingredient

Fearless Fabulous You! is broadcast live on Mondays at 4 p.m. EST on W4WN Radio – The Women 4 Women Network (www.w4wn.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (http://www.talk4radio.com/) on the Talk 4 Media Network (http://www.talk4media.com/). Listen and be inspired.

Burning diamonds

Night of Mourning, , , ,

tristan candle web

You have the glittering beauty of gold and silver, and the still higher lustre of jewels, like the ruby and diamond; but none of these rival the brilliancy and beauty of flame. What diamond can shine like flame?

Michael Faraday (1791–1867), English scientist

What diamond can shine like flame? More than a million diamond nanoparticles that are created every second in a burning candle flame.

Chemistry professor Wuzong Zhou at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland discovered during 2011 that diamond nanoparticles exist at the centers of candle flames. The diamond particles are burned away in the fire.

This explains part of the natural human attraction to candle light for sacred rituals, including lighting candles for the deceased.

I recently lit a candle for my deceased son Brennan while visiting St. Paul’s Cathedral. At the time I didn’t know I was burning up millions of bits of diamonds. How like the life of my brilliant son, shining brightly for nineteen years, burning up in the heat and pressure of his life, and then adding illumination to my life.

Thriver Soup Ingredient:
Lighting a candle to commemorate the passing of a loved one can bring a momentary, tiny sense of peace. Many Catholic churches are open during the day and have candles that can be lit. You will be creating and burning diamonds that can ascend, as heat and carbon dioxide, with your emotions and thoughts  toward the heavens.

Source:
Michael Faraday, lectures on “The Chemical History of a Candle,” 1860.
http://phys.org/news/2011-08-candle-flames-millions-tiny-diamonds.html#jCp
https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/news/archive/2011/title,72748,en.php

 

 

Thriver Soup a #2 best seller on Amazon

About, Events, Resources, , , , , , , ,

lit candles Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.

Buddha, The Dharmapada

By lighting a candle through Thriver Soup and sharing its message of options with others, the light of genuine hope among cancer patients is increasing.

On Saturday, Jessica Brown with the Fox19 Morning Show in Cincinnati shared the camera with me:

http://www.fox19.com/clip/12485852/thrivers-soup

On Sunday, many tips for cancer survival were shared through Bob Salter’s show on the New York City CBS radio station WFAN:

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/audio/bob-salter/  (Click on the June 5 / 7am show; it’s 40 minutes)

By Sunday afternoon, Thriver Soup became a #2 best seller on amazon.com!

Other interviews for National Cancer Survivors’ Day (June 5) included:

  • Dr. Christine Horner with “The Radiant Health Show” (about 30 minutes)
  • Judy Peace with WAIF 88.3 FM, Cincinnati, OH
  • Chad Young, Program Director with WKCT-AM, Bowling Green, KY
  • John Maciel, KW Magazine on 98.5 FM CKWR, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
  • And a prerecorded show with Matt Nie, Community Focus, 89.1 WBSD FM, Burlington, WI, will air this summer.

By sharing the light, we can make it possible for more people to survive beyond a cancer diagnosis. Thank you for sharing the light with me.

Thriver Soup Ingredient:

Sharing these links with others can light even more candles of hope with options. I would love to hear how the tips in Thriver Soup are lighting your way.

Source:

http://www.viewonbuddhism.org/dharma-quotes-quotations-buddhist/joy-happiness.htm

3 tips for celebrating on Nat’l Cancer Survivors’ Day

Conventional Methods

natl canc surv day Of all gains, good health is the greatest.

Buddha, Dhammapada 204a

 

Of all the things humans can acquire, the Buddha recognized nothing was more important than good health. This Sunday, June 5, is National Cancer Survivors’ Day, a day I celebrate my good health with nearly five years free of evidence of cancer and free of residual medical treatment.

There are nearly 14.5 million people in the United States living after a cancer diagnosis, according to the National Cancer Survivors’ Day Foundation. Some are still in treatment, others are post-treatment.

I am blessed to have learned about and applied so many solutions to these issues. More than 250 practical tips are shared in the book Thriver Soup. My top ten tip list is available free when you subscribe to my blog in the right frame of the page.

A few easy tips were shared on Waves of a New Age through a conversation with host Judy Peace this past Tuesday on WAIF 88.3 FM. Watch for a recording of our conversation to be posted.

Here are three of several shared on the air:

  • Start every breakfast with a cooked apple (Thriver Soup pg. 113);
  • Focus on body sensations when meditating (Thriver Soup pg. 338); and
  • Put on some lively music and move your body (Thriver Soup pg. 171).

Small yet incremental changes can make a big difference in our health and enhance our long-term survival. I’m sure the Buddha will be smiling.

Thriver Soup Ingredient:

Solutions to hundreds of healing issues are available at your fingertips through Thriver Soup.

Sources:

http://www.unification.net/ws/theme018.htm

http://www.ncsd.org/news-1/for-immediate-release-NCSD-2016-communities-to-celebrate-June-5

Watching for family patterns

Complementary Therapies, Mending the Mind, ,
hildegard von bingen
Hildegard of Bingen

Rivers of living water are to be poured out over the whole world, to ensure that people, like fishes caught in a net, can be restored to wholeness.
Hildegard of Bingen

Hildegard of Bingen, German Benedictine abbess and founder of scientific natural history in Germany, believed that the Divine pours out living water upon the earth to bring healing to all. She believed people can be restored to wholeness.

It has happened for me. This year I celebrate that I have lived longer than my mother lived.

This is significant in my eyes, because she passed from breast cancer. I, also, was diagnosed with terminal cancer. I now have flowed past her last birthday and have outlived her. I have exhaled a huge sigh of relief.

I’m not the only one snared by the family cancer net. My mother was diagnosed when I was a tween. One of my sons was the same age when I was diagnosed with a sarcoma. It definitely appeared to be a pattern. A pattern that needed to be eliminated.

The first step, of course, was being aware of this pattern. On its own, this acknowledgement reduces its strength. It frees us up somewhat from carrying out the repetition compulsion. Now at least part of the burden has been lifted from his shoulders. Of course, this brings me even more relief.

And a restoration of some wholeness.

Thriver Soup Ingredient:

Sometimes families have patterns of illness or of passing. Being aware of the patterns is the first step in healing them.

Source:

http://www.azquotes.com/quote/865103, possibly from Hildegard of Bingen, “Book of Divine Works”, Part III, Vision 3

Image is in the public domain.

Community Press shares Thriver Soup’s message of hope and healing

About, Complementary Therapies, Congruent Care, Conventional Methods, , , , , ,

“There were times when Heidi Bright prepared to die after being diagnosed with a terminal cancer in July 2009.

“Today Bright delivers a message of hope and healing through her book ‘Thriver Soup’ and speaking to groups. This is the third traditionally published book by the Milford author.”

Please read more at

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/local/milford/2016/05/17/milford-womans-book-shares-tips-surviving-cancer/84500320/

Lilies for Mother’s Day

Congruent Care, Night of Mourning, , , ,
Lilies symbolize motherhood.
Lilies symbolize motherhood.

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they toil not, neither do they spin. Even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

Matthew 6:28-29, Christian Bible

The lilies in my neighbor Jennifer’s yard had grown so much that “on a whim” she was outside, digging up a large swathe of them. Just as my son and I were walking by—which we only do once every week or two.

Had we walked by an hour earlier or later, she would not have been working on the lilies and they would not have been available.

The timing of her whim proved perfect. She offered them to me. In time to plant for Mother’s Day.

Lilies are considered by some to symbolize motherhood. This arises from an ancient Greek myth that the goddess Hera’s milk overflowed, and the milk that fell to the earth splashed and formed white lilies.

White lilies often appear in paintings of the Madonna when being told she will bear the Christ Child, once again tying the flower to motherhood and new beginnings. This new beginning extends to restoration of innocence for the souls of the departed.

My own mother is among the departed–I lost her decades ago to breast cancer. And I lost my son Brennan less than a year ago.

These flowers aren’t the first lilies to show up near a holiday. A stylized lily, referred to as the fleur-de-lis, was on a red vase that appeared on my porch in time for Christmas—a surprise package I believe Brennan had a hand in getting delivered. Now bunches of the real deal are growing in my yard.

The connection is clear to me. I believe Brennan, and perhaps my mother as well, had something to do with my neighbor’s “whim” and the timing of my walk, so I would have lilies in his memorial garden in time for Mother’s Day. And there were enough to plant some in the front yard, adorning an area designated for my other son’s plants. I look forward to their summer glories.

Thriver Soup Ingredient
If you would like to grow lilies, here is a guide: https://www.almanac.com/plant/lilies

Sources:
http://www.whats-your-sign.com/lily-meaning.html

http://www.teleflora.com/meaning-of-flowers/lily

Embracing the joys and unbearable agonies of motherhood

Congruent Care, Night of Mourning,

Even if a mother lives for a hundred years,
She will constantly worry about her eighty-year-old child.
Do you wish to know when such kindness and love ends?
It doesn’t even begin to dissipate until her life is over!

“The Kindness of Ultimate Compassion and Sympathy,” The Filial Piety Sutra

summer 2000A mother’s kindness and love remains strong throughout her life. I absolutely loved being a mother. I cherished those little arms wrapped around me, that soft sweet breath in my ear, the giggles as we played together.
That is only part of why losing a child is considered the toughest tragedy a human being can face.
And it makes Mother’s Day particularly painful. There is an emptiness, a hole, that nothing can ever fill. There is an ache that will never disappear. It is like a broken hand that leaves one impaired throughout life.
My first Mother’s Day without my son Brennan is this weekend. I read of another mother who lost her only child to heroin, and another who lost two sons to heroin in one night.
So while my heart aches for Brennan, I feel deeply grateful for my second child. Out of my six pregnancies, he is the only one alive today.
I cherish our time together. I now have a little time to read books he suggests so we can talk about them. We have a weekly ritual of eating out. And we discovered Escape Room adventures during which we are locked in a room for an hour and have a series of puzzles to solve. We’ll be doing one on Mother’s Day.
Brennan would have loved participating with us. I will invite his spirit to join us on this fun adventure. I will make the most of my time with Jason. And I will embrace both the incredible joy and unbearable agony of motherhood.

Thriver Soup Ingredient
One possible way to celebrate Mother’s Day and enjoy connecting with family members is with a Room Escape adventure. There are many companies offering them in major cities across the country.

Source:
http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/filial-sutra.htm

Remembering with Forget-Me-Nots

Congruent Care, Night of Mourning, , ,

At present I absolutely want to paint a starry sky. It often seems to me that night is still more richly coloured than the day; having hues of the most intense violets, blues and greens. If only you pay attention to it you will see that certain stars are lemon-yellow, others pink or a green, blue and forget-me-not brilliance. And without my expatiating on this theme it is obvious that putting little white dots on the blue-black is not enough to paint a starry sky.
Vincent Van Gogh

forget me nots
forget me nots

This 19th century Dutch post-Impressionist painter was able to perceive the hues in the stars, even the brilliance of forget-me-not blue. I can’t see those colors in the night sky, yet I like greeting them hovering overhead when I come home at night and walk from my garage to my house.

I missed the stars Tuesday night when I arrived home in the rain after my first Compassionate Friends meeting. I finally had the energy and interest to try out this group of people who meet to work through the grief of losing a child. Display posters held beloved photographs of lost children, from infants to middle-aged adults.

How fortunate we are today to have the ability to look at color images of our children. Only a century ago I would not have had photos showing my son Brennan’s eye color–camouflage green–even if I would have been lucky enough to have a single picture of him.

There is a legend encapsulating the value of remembering someone’s gaze through eye color. In this story, the Christ Child is sitting on Mother Mary’s lap. He wants others to experience her heavenly gaze, so he touches her eyes, then waves his hand over the ground. Blue forget-me-nots appear.

Blue forget-me-nots have sprung up in my garden this spring, right next to Brennan’s developing garden. Through these flowers Mary gazes upon me and upon Brennan’s garden. And Brennan himself has witnessed her loving gaze on the other side. Now he is in her care. She is the best of mothers.

Thriver Soup Ingredient

A child is never forgotten. The grief might shift and there might eventually be acceptance, but we all will always remember our children. Perhaps some forget-me-nots would be a nice addition to a garden in memory of how cherished they are to us.

Source:

http://www.azquotes.com/quote/343713