Feeling good is a choice

I think it is normal for many people in the world to focus on things that are wrong or need “fixing” in the world. We are bombarded with messages that tell us how bad things are or how hard life ought to be. The news is filled with messages about extremely bad situations because this typically gets more attention and also sells more ad space. Whether it is messages on TV or Social Media, these negative and often shocking messages are what get more interest, so they get shown to us more.

It is natural for us to gravitate to these messages because our fear signal is still very primitive and we want to protect ourselves. We want to feel safe and if there is something that could impact us, then we will consume it to make sure we will be okay.

There is however a big issue with these messages. Often they are just one part of the story. They are usually the part that is extreme and not positive. We are told that things are dire but when you look deeper, you find that things aren’t as bad as they might make out or that the perspective is very skewed to one agenda or one small part of a full story.

The more important issue with these messages is that they make us feel more anxious and like the world is really a terrible place! We feel that we are surrounded by racism, angry and vindictive people and that there is no hope for humanity or the world. What a horrible feeling to carry with us each and every day? How does this help shift any of those things into a better place when we are filled with those feelings?

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What is worse is that these feelings also translate into how we view ourselves and our ability to heal with endometriosis. When we believe things are hopeless, we naturally also feel this way about our healing journey. We might read websites or messages telling us how terrible endometriosis is and how it is spreading everywhere or read stories of women having hysterectomies or countless surgeries because they couldn’t find any other way forward. We may simply be coming from a place that is filled with anxious, worried thoughts and so our tendency is to do the same when it comes to ourselves and our body.

The question I want to ask you today is: How does this help you?

Yes, you can spend your time worrying about your endometriosis or your health but does this worry resolve anything? Does it make you feel better about where you are at? Does it spring you into action to shift it?

Stress of any kind and particularly that anxious, helpless and overwhelm feeling is often a huge inhibitor for healing. Pushing, fighting and resisting are not emotions we want to use as an approach for healing with endometriosis. They drive up that stress response and stress is a big trigger for more inflammation, more pain and more hormone imbalances.

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The choice you get to make…

Every day is a new day. It is a chance to start over. An ability to shift your perspective on your life, your journey and your endometriosis thus far.

What are you going to fill it with? What messages are going to shift how you feel about your life and everything in it?

What choices can you make today that will fill you with joy, ease, comfort and contentment?

Yes! Those are feelings and just like anxiety, sorry and stress… you get to choose them BUT you have to choose them consciously because they are much harder to come by. The media is seldom filled with those thoughts and feelings.

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What I do to shift into calm happy thoughts

Here is what I do to ignite those feelings in myself each and every day…

I begin each day with a Mantra. Something positive to tell myself about me as a person or the world in general. I use the Mantra App or Louise Hay’s Power Thought Cards to make it easy. Then I write down 3 things I am grateful for. 3 was an easy number for me to achieve and not feel overwhelmed with too many.

Next I do a simple 10minute meditation. I love the Calm.App because she makes me think about different aspects of my life and the world and opens my mind to possibility and calm. It really is my favourite app for meditation now.

I then listen to a lovely playlist I created on Spotify with nothing but happy songs and consciously chose these to lift my mood. If I find anything in there that makes me feel down or grumpy in any way, I remove it – things change sometimes with songs 😉

The key thing is that I make a conscious effort to fill my life with joyful things. I avoid nasty angry movies and TV Shows. I fill my days with light and sunshine and really thinking about positive things that I put into each day.

A simple example of this is when I go for my morning walk. I used to use this time to work through my to do list in my head or blow off steam. I would spend the entire 20minutes harping on about something that made me angry or what I felt was unfair in the world. I thought I was “clearing my head” but really I was just feeding that anger with more angry thoughts.

Now, with conscious thought… I focus on my surroundings. I look at the light, the trees and how things change in the forest each day. I spend the entire time marvelling at nature. I listen to the birds and really focus on being there fully. I let the angry thoughts float away on a cloud and let them dissipate into nothing. They don’t serve me and I chose to let them go.

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I know this stuff isn’t easy. I know because it is very easy to revert back to getting angry about stuff in the world that happens. It is easy to focus on what we don’t have or wanting things to be different. All that media and advertising encourages this kind of thinking.

BUT

We do have an incredible power and that is OUR CHOICE.

What choice are you going to make for yourself starting tomorrow?