We all know the old saying, “Less is more.” I find myself nodding in agreement when someone says it; it feels true in my heart. But there is a tipping point if I run on pure logic with this concept. I begin questioning it and distrusting my heart because my brain can’t see the continuity. More joy, clarity, and love are always a welcome kind of “more." There seems to be a place where this concept changes meaning from overwhelm to abundance. Only recently did I come to a place where I understood precisely what “less is more” means in my day-to-day life; My goal is to help you do the same if you wish.
After the intensity of cancer treatments, I carefully evaluated every aspect of my life to make sure I was doing everything I could to prevent a recurrence. From this point of view, I assumed more was better. "More" appeared to mean less fear for me… but does it really mean less chance of cancer recurrence?
Soon after my last round of chemo, I began a whirlwind of consultations: I met an exercise specialist, a nutritionist, an integrative oncologist, and a physical therapist, just to name a few. I felt like a squirrel in the middle of the road, unsure if I wanted to run to the right or the left. I kept thinking of the phrase: “The road is paved with flat squirrels who couldn’t decide.” It’s funny but not really!
Through all that, one conversation with a brilliant integrative physician from my Breast Center really stood out.
Picture this: I walk into the exam room equipped with my bright yellow notebook, overflowing with notes from specialists and my own research. Glasses on and pen in hand, I was ready to jot down every word of advice she shared.
I asked some very smart scientific questions from all the specialists about what I should eat, how I should exercise… the list goes on.
After what must have been my thousandth question (this was all very serious to me), my doctor, who was also a cancer survivor, gave me a knowing smile and gently interrupted. She could see the rabbit hole I was sending myself down and said something that caught me completely off guard: “Even If you had the most sugary, dairy-filled, carb loaded birthday cake on your birthday surrounded by incredible friends who make you laugh so hard that you lose track of time, that birthday cake would find a way to be GOOD for you.”
My mind was blown!
Mostly because I could feel the truth of that statement and, at the same time, could not logically explain the reason why it was true.
What are your thoughts on this?
Since then, every time I consciously choose to fully immerse myself in a celebration with the people I love, I think about the smile on my doctor’s face that day.
We are so much more than the sum of our parts; our health is so much more than the physical aspects of our actions to keep our bodies healthy. There is so much intangible all around us that complements and guides our health. Things you can't quantify or formally study as part of medical science but that still shape our health and wellness.
It’s not just about WHO we are. It’s also about HOW we are.
I want you to take a moment and think about what this may mean for your daily life.
As we pivot to discussing supplements, remember your thoughts when you took that moment just now.
The very term “supplements” implies a supporting role to a larger whole. They are not meant to carry the full weight of keeping us well. Here’s where “less is more” comes into play.
I always talk about seven core areas of health; you might have heard me mention them:
- Environment
- Nutrition
- Sleep
- Movement
- Spirituality
- Relationships
- Resiliency
(I promise to return and dive deeper into these one at a time in future articles.)
For now, I invite you to consider each of these areas and how interconnected they are.
Can you see how supplements could contribute to all these areas without being the single solution to achieving optimal health in any one of them?
Now I want you to imagine a time when you were at a table eating food with old friends, the kind of friends you can be completely yourself with and forget the passage of time.
Moments like this trigger a unique body chemistry that no supplement can replicate.
Now, go back and look at the list of the core areas of health. Can you see how this intangible experience with friends plays a part in every one of those areas of health?
We are so much more than the sum of our parts.
This is the center of what it means to consider “less is more.”
Our daily life in this century comes with automatic nutritional gaps; a cancer diagnosis adds complexity to this. I choose to remember that our body is made to support us in this lifetime, and there is internal wisdom built in. Our bodies are made to survive and, more than that, support us in doing our part in fulfilling our unique roles in our lives, the lives of our close family, and a ripple effect this creates out in the world.
That built-in innate wisdom may never be explained logically. We can’t hear it very well unless we know what we are listening for and trust our ability to repair and heal. It is the essence of quieting the outside noise and mindfully finding our unique path to that connection.
This is why I am here writing this today. I believe it’s essential to partner with a team that can pinpoint with precision the elements of body chemistry that get altered and undoubtedly need support based on our global nutrition patterns that affect every human on the planet AND our unique type of cancer and treatment that goes with that.
With this approach, we plug the known gaps, no more, no less. From that place, we focus on living our best life and allow the intangibles to step in and complete the picture.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to essential health, which becomes even more obvious when considering health challenges like cancer diagnosis. We can close the apparent gaps with precision by using current and ever-evolving science and knowledge. Beyond this, we trust ourselves and our best life for the rest.
As we continue learning about our options and feel more comfortable in the driver’s seat of our health, I encourage you to combine scientific research with trusting your body’s own cues. Simply pay attention and ask yourself good questions about what you find helpful.
Often, I find myself in information overload. We have ready access to so much information that we find ourselves disconnected from our unique inner wisdom. Please know you are not alone; the whole team at SurvivorRx is here to help with the expert perspective.
As always, the choice is yours.
