Our Belief Should Be Stronger Than Our Unbelief

Former NFL player Eric Berry is one of the most decorated athletes of all time, both in amateur and professional competition. The All-Pro safety was named Associated Press NFL Comeback Player of the Year and was a member of the NFL’s 2010s All-Decade Team.

All of these accomplishments are amazing, but in my opinion, he has another one that is more encouraging, as it gives hope to many people, regardless of the battles they are going through. In 2014, Berry was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Yet he was able to return to playing football the next year and continued his career until 2018. His journey shows what the power of belief can do.

Our words are impactful

There is an ongoing debate about what the strongest part of our body is. To me, the real question is not which is the strongest, but rather which has the most impact. As a counselor, I constantly provide people psychoeducational feedback about combating negative affirmations and enforcing positive ones. The way we speak to ourselves and approach a situation often plays a major role in the outcome.

Acknowledging a diagnosis or illness is fine and expected. The problem happens when we allow it to dictate how we live out our life. We live in a technological age that allows us to receive information in seconds. The diagnosis I received had me looking all over the internet for answers. What I was finding was not always positive, and that had an impact on me.

I started comparing my situation to other people, which caused anxiety. Negative thoughts began creeping in, trying to make a home. To combat these attacks on my mind, I needed to reinforce the positive thoughts and prevent my mind from playing tricks on me.

Think, feel, do

Belief is defined as trust, faith, or confidence in someone or something. What you think is usually what you speak, and what you speak you will end up seeing. The key to navigating tough circumstances is understanding that there is a strong likelihood that someone else has persevered through the same type of situation before. This is where our perspective should shift, because if it has been done once, it can be done again, and that should give us great hope. Our belief should take over, and we should have trust, faith, and confidence that things will improve.

I would like to leave you with a quote by the late Dr. Myles Munroe, a minister and life coach, who stated that, “The facts are not always the truth.” To me, this is a powerful statement because we so often look at the facts of our situation in the present moment and allow them to define us. But the situation might not be the truth about who we are or could be.

The mind is like a muscle, you have to work it out and feed it the right things, or it will be weak when you need its strength.

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Note: Cushing’s Disease News is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of Cushing’s Disease News or its parent company, Bionews, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to Cushing’s.