Is sickness holding you back from living your best life?
These 3 things made it easier to cope and not loose hope.
3 things I focused on to ensure high quality of life while battling serious health issues for 4 years.
1. Believing that Universe only gives me what I can handle even though my first reaction might be the polar opposite.
I spent (wasted) over $200k in treatments with no result which lead me to bankruptcy.
But, reminding myself that this is what fate has in store for me and I can handle this bout with adversity made me gritty. It made me hopeful and gave me confidence.
Side note: Stoicism has a lot to offer here. For acceptance, a quote/visual that helped me tremendously was
-“ Fate leads the willing and drags the un-willing. “
2. Accepting the reality for what it is.
Acceptance does not mean quitting. You only fail when you quit so that is never an option.
Acceptance is a pragmatic look at reality. Surveying the circumstances objectively.
I stopped buying supplements and trying out ‘new age’ treatments when I objectively understood that none of it had worked in the past.
The result was that my body started to get slightly better from not ingesting 35 different supplement pills each day.
It halted the digging of a deeper financial hole. Frankly, I feel stupid for not stopping earlier.
3. Not choosing the identity of a ‘sick’ person.
My symptoms were so bad that I couldn’t even leave the house. I wore a mask 24/7. Even while sleeping.
But. Still everyday, I had a goal to spend 5 mins every couple of hours acting as if I am not sick.
I would do small things that my healthy self would do or think about.
I trained in grappling. So I would watch jujitsu videos on YouTube and drill techniques in my head. Imagine myself on the mats.
When someone asked how I was feeling, I would say , “I am battling the demons”. That reminded me of my identity as a fighter. If my symptoms were heightened, I would start a 3 mins timer on my phone and treat it like a round of sparring.
I committed to doing things like cooking for myself even if it was making a toast. It made me feel self-reliant, able and not sick.
Perseverance is the price a Hero must pay.
Bigger the challenge, bigger the hero.
Even a wrong clock shows the correct time twice a day. Things are dictated by your perception.
So, choose wisely.
Much Love
PM