I recently attended a seminar and the key note speaker, for all intent and purposes, could have titled his presentation, The Power of Thinking Positively. He invited the audience of over 1000 people to repeat the mantra, energy flows where the attention goes! He was speaking to the issues of being in debt, overcoming procrastination, making the “right” decisions, and other similar topics. I was thinking about how I can take this cognition concept and help people who are living with a chronic physical condition.
I began to think about the stages of grief and loss with the final phase being that of acceptance. I thought how similar this idea was to the concepts and ideas about which the speaker was speaking. Let me explain. I’ve seen people respond with anger, feelings of betrayal, guilt, and shame when first diagnosed with a medical challenge. If we take the mantra, energy flows where the attention goes, an individual may continue to feel emotionally and physically worn down.
In order to truly make changes and move forward into a healing, loving space, you must start from a position of acceptance. After some good ol’ fashioned soul searching, you’ll discover your inner beliefs and values as they relate to your health. Of course, you may not be pleased that you have a chronic illness, but in order to help yourself feel the best that you can, it’s so critical that you accept your situation with kind and gentle thoughts.
Along with acceptance comes the opportunity to create as healthy a mind-set as possible. A dear friend and Camp Oasis counselor said to me that her IBD has made her the woman that she is today. She sees herself as strong, capable, and eager to take on challenges. I’ve heard other people tell me how blessed they are that they learned so much and met so many wonderful loving caring people because of their health challenges. Other stories that I’ve heard are about how so many people have taken this experience in their lives, turned it into a real positive, to help other people along the way.
Living with IBD, certainly has its challenges. No doubt about it. But when we can learn the power of positive thinking, acceptance, and remembering that energy flows where the attention goes, and if we set our intention toward positive aspects of our situation, we truly feel better not only in our bodies and our minds, but in our spirits, as well.
JUL
2017