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Via EmailIf You Had the Gene For Alzheimer’s, Would You Want to Know?
Here’s the conversation question:
If you had the gene for Alzheimer’s, would you want to know?
Before you answer, you need to understand that “genes are not destiny. Millions of Americans without a genetic susceptibility develop Alzheimer’s, and many with the genes do not,” writes Jean Carper in USA Weekend (Sept. 19, 2010). Should you get tested? Carper says yes because (presumably), if you’ve got the gene, you’ll be motivated to take precautions and reduce your risk.
I say no. Save the 200 bucks, and save your sanity, too.
You know how you get a sesame seed or bit of popcorn stuck in your teeth? You can’t help putting your tongue on it. It bothers you til you get that sucker out of there. Wouldn’t your worry be a zillion times worse if tests showed that you were “A-gene positive”?
If you say, no, you’re a rare bird, and I salute you.
If you say, yes and you’d be all twisted up about it, there’s something you can do.
The Power of Self-Talk
The most powerful lesson I’ve learned in my life is about how I talk to myself—namely, to ride my thoughts where I want them to go and not let them ride me. I get bucked off into the brambles of negativity sometime, but I’m a good rider.
Do these ideas sound familiar?
- “Energy flows where your attention goes.” And
- “What you resist, persists”?
In other words, if you floss, meditate, and jog because you have the nasty Scarlet Letter A gene, your attention is on what? Alzheimer’s. What are you resisting? Alzheimer’s. What’s persisting? Alzheimer’s. Or the tendency toward it.
Call it New Age thinking if you want.
It’s the Law of Attraction
I’m not saying that if you simply think about the condition, it will descend on you like a big dark blanket. I do know that you’re likely to drive yourself nutty just thinking about a little critter that could develop. It’s that sesame seed irritation. As Mark Twain said, “I have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.”
Of all the conversations you have in life, the ones you have with yourself are the most powerful. Your thoughts create your life. And if you’re only reacting to life’s slings and arrows, well, that’s a kind of creation, too, isn’t it?
What if you already have a condition you don’t want?
Then focus on something you do want—for example, well-being. Focus on the things in your life you’re grateful for. Focus on what IS working for you. Should your thoughts wander back to what you don’t want, snag them, and bring them right back to a thought that feels better, even a little better. Pay no attention to the so-called awful reality. Keep focusing on what you want.
Here’s a quote from my favorite Law-of-Attraction Web site:
“What makes people decline is that they start forking in the direction that doesn’t allow them to be the receivers of this never-ending Stream of Well-Being. You don’t have to decline… ‘Happy, healthy, happy, healthy, happy, healthy, happy, healthy, dead!’ That’s Esther’s plan…” – Abraham
What’s your plan?
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Today an email told me “TBT means Thoughts Become Things.” What kind of things am I creating today? I’m going to pay close attention.