Cancer Journal #14 Jan 18

 

        Whenever I shower, I finish up by turning the hot off and the cold up as far as it will go.  It’s just awful!   Most days, it’s the worst thing that happens to my body all day.  Takes your breath away just starts to describe the way it is bad.  Torture for about five seconds but then the water runs for a while and the body adjusts.  You hit the front , the back, the legs, the chest; stay with it for a few minutes and I won’t say it feels good but it’s tolerable.


Google “Benefits of a cold shower” and you will get a list.  One I can think of now is a boost to the immunity system.  I get that.  The system is lounging around on the sofa taking it easy;  hit it with cold water and it bounces off the sofa into a wrestler’s crouch, eyes going this way and that for whatever is causing this crisis.  No camouflaged bacteria is getting by it now.  


Another benefit is a boost to emotional resilience.  This I also get.  Maybe it’s more will power.  To decide to turn off the hot faucet and turn up the cold, knowing the horrid thing that’s about to happen is hard.  But when the water’s off and I’m out of the shower, there’s a nice sense of well-being and it is oddly warming because it brings the blood up to the surface of the skin.


I’m telling you this because the other day when I was deciding whether to turn off the hot and turn up the cold, I was about to decide not to,  telling myself that I had cancer.  But then I caught myself, said, “No, no, no, no!” and turned on the cold.  I realized what the darn disease can do to me though.  I’m not even feeling it yet and I’m already tempted to use it as an excuse to go easy on myself.  Must not do that.  If I do and I don’t hide it from myself, I’ll tell you about it, OK?  That will help me.

Comments

  1. Jan CJanuary 20, 2021 at 11:12 AM

    Ah, kind of like sitting in a hot sauna and then running out and jumping in an icy cold lake!

    I commend you for not only finding ways to boost your immune system but also to boost your emotional resilience. So important! Good for you.

    I suppose a little pampering now and then could be a helpful thing too, but good too to hold to your goals. And of course, you can always tell us about it. :)

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