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Most of this article is in Brice’s own words – through research and firsthand experience, he has become an expert in unconditional giving and paying it forward since being diagnosed with cancer in 2012.
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First, a bit of background for those of you not familiar with Brice’s story: Four years ago, Brice was diagnosed with stomach cancer, and told it would likely kill him. He fell into denial and depression, became bed-ridden, and contemplated suicide. While doing some research, however, he came across a fascinating theory which maintained that giving and receiving freely with love and kindness could help people heal and recover from depression, and was a wonderful way to build community.
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YAY! I AM NOW CANCER FREE! My doctor said my tumour SHRUNK and my MRI results are “unexplainable by western science.” No surgery, chemo or medication! You can watch the video on the Vancouver Sun! I read studies that love and kindness is the world’s best medicine. Unfortunately, I can’t buy love or kindness at the pharmacy. So my treatment was doing random acts of kindness for a year without expecting anything in return. I thought it could heal my depression and loneliness. I wrote a Craigslist’s ad offering “Unconditional Love for $0” that surprisingly went viral and reached millions of people in days. I offered my time and energy, which was very limited, at the service of anyone who reached out. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. There was no guarantee of survival.
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LOVE AND KINDNESS AS MEDICINE: “After twenty years of research and practice as a cardiologist, Dr. Dean Ornish wrote that no other factor in medicine, ‘not diet, not smoking, not exercise, not stress, not genetics, not drugs, not surgery’, affects our health, quality and length of life more than feeling loved and cared for. ” –Dean Shrock
GIVING REDUCES MORTALITY BY 44%: “In this new study from Doug Oman of the University of California at Berkeley, 2,000 individuals over age 55 were studied for five years. Those who volunteered for two or more organizations had an impressive 44% lower likelihood of dying. “
GIVING HELPS YOU LIVE LONGER, MORE THAN RECEIVING, STUDY FINDS: “Giving to others increases your longevity, although receiving the same kind of help did not. Psychologist Stephanie Brown of the University of Michigan spent five years studying 423 older couples. After adjusting for age, gender, and physical and emotional health, Brown found that those who provided significant support to others were more than twice as likely to remain alive in that five year period. These surprising findings ruled out other factors like personality, health, mental health and marital relationship variables.”
(of an account) not necessarily true or reliable, because based on personal accounts rather than facts or research.
"while there was much anecdotal evidence there was little hard fact"