Be Happy No Matter What

To be diagnosed with an autoimmune disease is a devastating experience when the doctor told you that there is no known cure, only management of the disease symptoms. But from my own experience, having an autoimmune disease is not the end of the world. Always look at the brighter side of life, and not its darkness. In fact, happiness may play a pivotal role in the prognosis of your autoimmune disease.

What is happiness? It is difficult to define because happiness is but a state of mind. It has everything to do with your perception—how you look at everything in your life, including your health and current circumstances. More specifically, it has to do with your thinking mind: how you think. Descartes, the great French philosopher, once said: “I think, therefore I am.” In other words, you are the sum of your thoughts. But your thoughts are not you; you just “think” you are who you are. Your mind may be deceiving you by telling you everything but the truth. True human wisdom means you must know your true self.

The human brain is like a computer program. Your whole being is like the computer hardware with the apparatus of a mind, body, and senses. The lens through which you see yourself, as well as others and the world around, is the software that has been programmed by your thoughts, your past and present experiences, your own expectations as well as those of others. That is to say, you may have subconsciously programmed your mind all these years with your memories, perceptions, and thoughts such that you may have become trapped in a constricted sense of self that has prevented you from knowing and being who you really are. Now, you must harness your wisdom to change that conditioned thinking. 

Tao wisdom enables you to see the wisdom in the oneness of all life—that everything exists because of its “opposite” and that everything will ultimately become its opposite, just as youth becoming old age, and life becoming death. Spontaneity, which is following the natural laws of nature, holds the key to attaining true human wisdom to live your life as if everything is a miracle, even though you may have an autoimmune disease.

Happiness holds the key to recuperation from your autoimmune disease. Remember, all autoimmune diseases have to do with stress, which is often a byproduct of unhappiness. Happiness changes the way you look at your life, the way you make your life choices and decisions that may positively or negatively impact your disease over the long haul. Be a better and happier you through Tao wisdom.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau