I Believe That Cancer Saved My Life

Many of us experience epiphanies in our own individual ways. For Tom, Cancer proved to save his life by leading him on the road to wellness and self-transformation. Get inspired to discover your inner truth and read more below.

"When the student is ready, the teacher will appear." - Buddhist Proverb

By the age of 37 I was a ticking time bomb. I was 50 lbs. overweight, I had a fatty liver, stage 2 hypertension, high blood pressure, heart palpitations, and routinely suffered from panic attacks due to a high stress job. Ask anyone and they'll tell you that is a lethal combination, a real recipe for disaster. My diet and lifestyle was literally killing me! I was on a collision course, and in desperate need of a wake up call, which came two weeks before my 37th birthday in the form of testicular cancer.

Most of us have had epiphanies at some point in our lives, or as some call them "Quantum Moments". These epiphanies are truths that have likely been suppressed over time, and like a volcano ready to burst, they will undoubtedly come bubbling up to the surface. I had many truths that desperately needed to be revealed: I was unhealthy, stressed out, and spiritually directionless. Before cancer, I refused to acknowledge these truths, or maybe I was so blinded by daily living that I never had time to reflect on them. That all changed after I was diagnosed.

As a result of cancer, I took radial action that resulted in a complete transformation of my diet and lifestyle that continues to this day. I switched from a junk food diet to a raw, plant-based diet and lost 50 pounds. Losing the weight allowed me to get off my blood pressure medication and to be accountable for my own health and wellness. I left my high stress job and became a certified health coach to help people make their own transformations and discover the green road to wellness.

I also developed deep spiritual practices like meditation and positive affirmations that allow me to continue to grow personally. I am a new man because I listened to cancer and learned from it. I allowed that volcano of truth to come down and teach and transform me. At last, I allowed myself to own my health.

I shudder to think what would have happened to me had I not gotten cancer. Undoubtedly I would have continued to gain weight from sitting year after year at my sedentary and highly stressful job. I would have continued being addicted to sugar and drive-throughs and probably would have died at an early age. Thankfully, that is now the road not taken and that reality will never come to be. I have changed my destiny by putting a value on my health. I am no longer "borrowing time" from my future self. All of this happened because of the revelation of cancer.

When some of us have these revelations we simply let them go and don't take them to heart. However, those that are open to them can learn extremely valuable and life-changing lessons. Not all epiphanies come in the form of illness. Some come from life events like divorce, bankruptcy, loss of job, etc. I believe we are led to these events as a form of divine course correction.When they happen, we should pause and take time to evaluate our lives and how we are living them. Cancer was both my wake-up call and my greatest teacher, and I was at a point in my life where I was finally ready and open to take the lessons to heart.

We all have truths that need to be revealed. I challenge you to look inward and discover your own truths. Find your inner volcano before it bursts.