Do I have to stay sick?

#mindsetmonday Let’s discuss the mindset of Condition vs. Event again. If you remember this is one that really runs against what society and the medical community says. One can either identify themselves as someone with a medical condition or illness (having this be part of your identity) or you can run against the mainstream and say whatever it is you are dealing with is simply an event - a short term circumstance and not a permanent state of being.

I used to have daily migraines and identified myself as one with “chronic pain.” In essence, I agreed with this condition and lived my life operating in a sick mentality. I would not commit to doing social things with friends because I knew I would have a migraine and be too sick; I did not go on any trips or vacations because I knew I would be too sick so I never even planned them; I did not do more than five minutes of exercise (such as walking the dog to the mailboxes) because I was just too sick and knew I would get sicker if I did.

Do you see how I lived in agreement with this mindset? I knew I was sick and would probably be sick for the rest of my life. It was a condition I had to somehow come to terms with, rather than an event. Learning that this was a mindset and that I could change my thinking, truly freed me and was one of the ways I became free of the daily headache. By renewing my mind and pushing out of my sick comfort zone - meaning I did whatever I thought I could not do. I began to live my life as a healthy person. I made plans with friends. I went on a short road trip to Chicago. I began exercising. This truly changed my reality.

However, yesterday, I woke up with a migraine. This, of course, is so unusual for me now.  However, a few of the old fears wanted to creep back. My initial thought was, “I better rest today so I don’t get sick.” I stopped and said, “No!”  I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that this headache was just an event. I refuse to live in fear anymore! I know that migraines are not who I am. Therefore, I  went ahead and attended a CXWorx (a core class) and BodyJam class walking in the knowledge that this was an event and would leave soon -- it was gone by the afternoon.

Where are you with your aches and pains? What about diagnoses? What would happen if you changed the way you viewed whatever ailed you? Rather than seeing it as a life sentence - what if you saw it as an event that you would come through? How would you live your life differently? What if you changed the way you thought?

I am not recommending dropping medication or whatever your doctor recommends, I am only encouraging you to change the way you think about it.  I know, from my own experience, that often it is mind over matter and the things you think you cannot do you actually can.

#growthmindset #eventnotacondition #changeyourthinking #ditchfear #renewyourmind #livethelifeyouwant #changeyourreality