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Renee Faber's avatar

Fantastic piece. Resiliency is the cornerstone of survival, yet until I read this I'd not put enough thought into it. The idea that the optimists in war were not the ultimate survivors is so much food for thought. I think that the topic I'm always hitting upon, compassion, irritates me in public discourse, because it's not fortified with the truth of reality thus it falls more into the optimist's camp. But it need not be this way, of course. Thank you, for this read!

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Gary Sharpe's avatar

The biggest predictor of disease progression for people with parkinson;s is if you answer yes to the question "do you feel lonely"!

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Adrian Purchas's avatar

Isn’t it shocking how much our inner emotional world influences our exterior human experience? A good friend of mine recently went through a pretty terrible divorce and soon was diagnosed with breast cancer. When she got into therapy and began taking care of herself and working through her grief, her cancer went into remission and hasn’t troubled her since. And I’ve noticed a curious non-coincidence in my al-alon group of cancer and other diseases in a lot of people who grew up in a home with addiction or had it in their adult lives in some significant way.

The more I research, the more clearly the links are - I’m certain you’ve read “How the Body Keeps the Score”?

I love our interactions, Gary - thank you for being so engaged and encouraging.

P.s. And also, how happy am I that I can now search your newsletter for things I’m writing!?

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