“Whether you think you can or you think you can’t; you’re right”
I heard that quote from Henry Ford years ago and it stuck with me. More so for training, racing and working but never for my mindset. Until now.
For three years (and the occasional present day) I didn’t think I would be able to heal SIBO. Listening to others is so overwhelming, saying how SIBO is incredibly hard to get rid of, but when it is gone take extra caution (A.K.A. make sure you watch every single thing you put in your mouth for the rest of your life) because it comes back very easily. Blah blah blah, what an incredibly fearful mindset to be in when you’re trying to get rid of a disease in your body. Don’t get me wrong, these educators push stress management. However, taking a bath or reading your favourite fictional book, does not cure SIBO. I’ve realized that you have to go back to why you got sick in the first place. I remember the exact week I landed with it. That week could’ve been the script for an independent horror film, it was that bad. I should’ve spent the whole week in my bed but I was determined to try to go to work each day. That resulted in going in for an hour of the shift and going back home. I still ran errands, I think one day I even tried to go to the gym. I didn’t eat a solid meal, but I remember I was snacking on a bag of M & M’ s. Do you see the problem here? I didn’t. Even though I recovered after that week, my body had already taken the damage. I found symptoms that I previously had from a mild case of IBS, were heightened and they lingered much longer. I started to become very aware of daily pain and the impact it made on my life.
At this time, I was eating a healthy balanced diet, working out five days a week and had a healthy social life. But you can’t outsmart stress. I was also working a full and part time job, going to night school a few times a week and in the midst of a divorce. If your mind isn’t healthy, your body won’t be either. I have a lot of trauma in my past, everyone has it in some form. It doesn’t have to be earth shattering to make a negative impact on your life. It can be as simple as a bully calling you stupid in sixth grade. Our minds are powerful but also easily impacted. How many people do you know that are one hundred percent healthy? I mean not even a food allergy, can you name one? Chronic illnesses that go from food sensitivities to anything life threatening like Cancer are all caused by poor mental health, a lack of physical activity and poor nutrition habits. It doesn’t have to be all three of these, just one can be detrimental enough to derail your health. For the first twenty-four years of my life, I ate like garbage. Even though I thought I was eating nutritious food, we all now realize that ten and twenty years later that cereals, bagels and pop shouldn’t be a daily intake for anyone. I don’t remember eating a salad or choosing to drink water over Root Beer. I was an outdoor kid but not athletic, although I did track and field with a little cross country and hated my life. I didn’t bother with exercise unless we were in gym class. I was always encouraged to go outside, even if all I did was lay out on a blanket and read. Even though I did a complete lifestyle change when I was about twenty five, by that age the damage is done. Processed foods are not meant to be consumed everyday or every week. Now, I go weeks without any. I try to live by the motto by Louise Hay “If it doesn’t grow, I don’t eat it”. I still enjoy treats, I just have made the conscious effort to make them myself, being aware of what is being put into my body and therefore my mind. Reducing processed foods will reduce almost any symptom to any illness. Getting thirty minutes of exercise a day drastically boosts your endorphins and reduces the risk of so many health conditions I’ve lost count. It’s a great place to start.
No one is perfect, I don’t care who you are. Everyone makes mistakes, this is how we learn. If they’re not our mistakes, we can learn from them anyway. Sometimes we have no choice to. Until this year, I would’ve argued that there was nothing wrong with my mental health. It took me almost twenty eight years to realize that my childhood and the beliefs that I had programmed into my subconscious have made my life incredibly difficult. “Life’s a bitch then you die.” I heard that phrase one day and I have been saying it for probably fifteen years. What an incredible load of bullshit. I’m not here to deny that even with optimal mental health that life doesn’t have it’s rough patches. It will always be a rollercoaster for everyone. Now, I’m so grateful that I have a good fifty years of a brand new life to live. There are still some days that I am in so much pain, I don’t think I will survive. But I always do. Now, because of my past I know exactly what my future will not look like.
Here is where the Law of Attraction comes in. The thoughts you think become things. Therefore, beliefs that you were told as a child, adolescent and adult stick with you and become your reality. Our childhood is so much more moldable than we realize. Until we are six years old our brains are constantly in the Theta brainwave. Ideals and beliefs about love, money and our bodies are heard and they stick with us for good. After six years, our brains start filtering but our subconscious has already been programmed by then. Beliefs like “money doesn’t grow on trees” kept me financially struggling. I truly believed that money was hard to come by and because of that I never had any. How does someone work twelve hour days, seven days a week and still not have a substantial income? I still ended up with debt, living paycheque to paycheque with no financial gain. I have very vivid memories of my childhood that I can now pinpoint as to limiting beliefs that held me back. Once I began this new journey, reprogramming my mind and taking action each day to change my life. It did just that, it changed. In the spring, I made a list of negative messages that I was told growing up. What I heard my teachers, family, friends and strangers say. The list was almost endless. This gave me the “aha” moment. I then took each belief and broke it down. I challenged it with why it wasn’t true and what I could do to prove that person wrong. Wouldn’t you like to know it worked? The limiting beliefs that others have no longer control my life. I feel free.
What were you told about relationships, money, your body or skillset? Write your list, recognize the limitations that have held you back and start changing them.
