Peace Prognosis

Michael Ellner said:

I have heard many people who survived AIDS and cancer report that when they were told they would be dead within a short period they started to eat anything that they wanted to eat - Many non-smokers and non-drinkers started smoking and drinking. Former drug users started using drugs - I was amazed because Twinkees and Coke was quite popular among this group - As soon as these people made peace with their diagnosis they discovered that they had the inner stregth to challenge their prognosis... And then they said  they felt strong enough to start taking care of themselves and eating for health and life...

 

I find this quote very provoacative. Haven't we all heard about or experienced something similar? What's going on here? If making peace is powerful enough that people can actually behave in unhealthy ways and still recover from terminal diagnoses, it's worth a closer look!

If acceptance (or perhaps surrender) is the key to this kind of healing transformation, how do we encourage or create that? Can we encourage or create it? 

How does a person behave differently before and after acceptance? Are they eating their food with more relish and attention? Have they become "mindful' in the Buddhist sense? 

What questions should we be asking about these kind of powerful changes?

-B