Peaks and Valleys

Many years ago I had read a book from Spencer Johnson, named “Peaks and Valleys”. One thing that I have kept in mind about it was, that whenever things in live get worse, there was a path that brought ourselfes downwards (to the Valley). A “simple” question out of this is, that if there is a path downwards, might be there not also some kind of an opposite way that can bring us upwards (to the Peak) again.

To boil it down to two major principles, the book says:

1. The errors You make in your today’s good times create tomorrow’s bad times.
2. And the wise things You do in your today’s bad times create tomorrow’s good times. 

By the way, this philosophy is also embedded in a more holistic way in a concept called Yin and Yang found in the Chinese cosmology.

Was does this mean to a condition like AFib?

Well, if I look back to the long road I have travelled downwards to the “valley” until my body and soul somehow “collapsed”, I can identify a lot of milestones that I have passed by.

Some of them are:

1. Obsessive Overstress (over years).
2. No sports over years.
3. Questionable Nutrition and Fluidation.
4. Weight gain.
5. Negative Relationships.
6. A job that sucked all remaining energy out of me.
7. Harmful medical treatments that only addressed isolated parameters (symptoms).

Regarding these milestones and getting back to Spencer Johnson’s Book, the Author states:

When you are on a Peak, your ego makes you see things as better than they really are. 

And when you are in a Valley, your ego makes you see things as worse than they really are.

It makes you think a Peak will last forever, and it makes you fear a Valley will never end.

The Most Common Reason You Leave a Peak Too Soon is Arrogance, Masquerading as Confidence. 

The Most Common Reason You Stay in a Valley Too Long is Fear, Masquerading as Comfort.

When you put your ego aside, you are more likely to leave a Valley sooner.”

The interesting question now is how to adapt this to a healing concept for AFib. In my case I made the experience that going for the opposite way than that what was bringing me down to the “valley” is actually improving my AFib condition dramatically, what means much shorter and less frequent episodes.

Let me put it in this order, what seems to actually improve my condition:

1. Loosing weight in a healthy way.
   (Remember: The opposite of gaining weight!)
2. Performing interval training to shorten AFib Episodes.
   (Remember: “Peaks and Valleys” for the heartload are an opposite to permanent adrenaline shots given by stress)
3. Go frequently (daily) for slow jogging (30-45 minutes).
   (Note: Helps to loose weight and makes the heart stronger against external/internal influences.)
4. Maintaining positive relationships.
5. Changing job and working conditions.
6. Improving Nutrition and Fluidation.
7. Keeping “undercomplex” treatments, that only address symptoms by one big hammer, away whenever possible.
   
   

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