Harnessing Faith: A Pillar of Strength in Times of Adversity
There’s always a choice, even in the dark. When Sandy Duarte heard, “You have cancer,” the first question was “Why me?” Then another rose through the shock: “Why not?” That pivot did not erase the diagnosis. It changed how she met it. In Cancer Ramblings, Sandy allows herself 24 hours for the wave of grief, then asks new questions: “Why not believe in surviving, not dying? Why not envision the end result, healing, power, renewal?” The choice to ask “Why not?” becomes a quiet engine for how she heals.
What Faith Means When You’re Sitting in the Fire
In Cancer Ramblings, faith is not abstract. It is daily, lived, and simple. It is trust in moments when the room goes still and your breath catches. It is faith in God, in love, in the universe, in essence, in light, in spirit, in nature, in the sun, in humans. Sandy writes about “the warmth of being in the palm of God’s hand.” She also names the human layer of faith: “Family, friends, faith. Where are yours?” That circle, especially in the gray of hospital walls, reminded her she was not alone.
The Body’s Quiet Data, and Why Faith Steadies You
Sandy’s doctors were “consistently impressed” by how her body responded to strong chemotherapy. She credits a grounded mind for supporting the body through it. Learning about neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to change, gave her permission to believe her thoughts and intentions could support healing. This is not magic. It is whole-person healing, where mind, body, and spirit are connected. Over time, others noticed a “new glow,” a sign of an inward shift to peace and the belief, “I am enough, just as I am.” Thriving, not just surviving, began to look like calm inside the storm.
Love as a Lifeline, Not a Slogan
When fear swelled, Sandy turned to a simple practice she calls Love Chants, repeating the word “love” to soften the mind and return to center. She also held a steady mantra: “I was weak, now I am strong.” These were lifelines, not pretty phrases. They returned her to the present, where the next breath could be taken and the next choice could be made.
Acceptance Opens the Way Forward
The hidden lesson in Cancer Ramblings is clear: acceptance comes first, then transcendence. After “Why not,” acceptance arrived: “Cancer became, to me, something not to hate, but to see… a strange pause to truly be.” From there, a new space opened to “dream within your nightmare,” to ask what this moment is teaching and to feel a brave love for life. This is not giving up power. This is how she found it, “bringing back the internal flame,” and getting “the captain of my spiritual ship back on board.”
That faith coexisted with practical care. Sandy honors a medical team that moved with speed and grace, and she felt safe speaking about spirit and the unseen while making treatment decisions. For her, East and West, science and spirit, stood together. As she puts it, “The C-word is no longer a death sentence… And yes, you can still be the captain.”
A Small Scene, A Big Truth
There is a tender moment in the shower. Sandy talks to her lungs. She will not accept living with only one. She speaks to her body with belief and care, asking life to return. Later, she links that fierce self talk to how her body surprised her doctors. Name it prayer, mindset, or love, the thread is the same: belief can help the body remember itself.
Try This Today, Just As the Book Teaches
1) Ask “Why not?” on purpose
When your mind loops on “Why,” try the pivot that saved Sandy from the spiral: “Why not?” Why not picture the moment you leave the hospital. Why not see “healing, power, renewal.” The question is not an answer. It is an invitation that gives you one inch of ground to stand on.
2) Write to the Light
Cancer Ramblings offers “Write to the Light,” journaling as if you are writing to your highest, most loving self. When the darkness feels heavy, this brings you back to the truth that strength and wisdom are already within you.
3) Lean on love when nothing else holds
Sandy writes, “When all else fails: Lean on love. Drown on love. Sink on love. Rise to love. Bend to love… Live to love.” Let love find you and guide you “into the deepest part of your greater self,” so you can rise from this, and any darkness, into the light inside you.
The Heart of It
Cancer Ramblings is a witness, not a manual. It tells a real story, written between six rounds of chemo, of stillness that sometimes suffocated and the choice to keep moving, creating, and writing anyway. That movement kept Sandy from being “swallowed by idle chaos.” Faith, in these pages, is not certainty. It is companionship. It is the steady sense that love, in all its forms, is walking with you right now.
If this message speaks to you, you may also like a related reflection shaped by the same spirit: Transformative Faith: Unleash Healing and Strength in Cancer’s Fight.
Take one breath. Ask, “Why not trust the light that has carried me this far?” Then let it carry you one small step more.