So the hardest part with any chronic illness- I mean apart from the physical symptoms that is- is the mental aspect of the wild journey that you’re on. It’s as if you’re stuck on a never ending rollercoaster of a ride of symptoms and emotions and you can understand how easy it is to get in a trap of anxiety and depression.
Thankfully while I’m sort of on that ride, I’m not too far along on and I’m doing my best to not go all the way up to the top without trying to intervene.
So what is this even if, even when thin you ask of?
Well, it was something that my fantastic osteo mentioned one day in a session. In a nutshell it’s similar to his other saying of you can be a gazalle or a lion- - in the sense that you can accept things, or you can push forward. With the mindset of “even if, even when” I am embracing the moments when I am showing physical symptoms of my illness (crazy innit?)
But think about this.
If I embrace this thinking- strike that, because I AM- I am reframing my thoughts and trying to maintain the looking forward and getting better part of my journey. I am embracing the fact that:
“Even if I show symptoms, I will be ok”
even if I am somewhere other than home. It’s certainly a hard process- in fact it is one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done- but it is just one part of the process for me to get back into some stability with my health.
By combining this with the one percent mentality, along with the approach of choosing to be a lion rather then a gazalle I am focusing on the importance of the mental health aspect that is crucial in my recovery, along with the physical aspects.
It’s on ongoing fight and one I am continuing to embrace and not give up