10 Things I Learned From Hashimoto's Part II
I covered five of the ways I’ve grown and what I’ve learned from Hashimoto’s in my post yesterday (10 Things I’ve Learned From Hashimoto’s Part I) and am excited to share with you the additional lessons I’ve learned. Here we go!
6.) Affirm How Powerful You Are - For a long time, I felt like a victim. I couldn’t understand how all of my efforts to heal, didn’t seem to be paying off. I felt confused by the fact that there were many people who could eat and drink whatever they wanted, and then go out, get little sleep, and still seem to feel better than I felt despite being so vigilant about how I was taking care of my body. I wasn’t able to accept the limitations I was experiencing and as a result felt angry at myself and Life. When I started to become more aware of how I was reinforcing victimhood by the language I was using and the thoughts I was thinking, I began to see I was giving my power away. Despite the challenges I was experiencing, there were also many gifts inherent in Hashimoto’s and so I decided to change my perspective to see the ways my health challenge has helped me to grow into a more whole person. I Am affirmations are a powerful way to affirm what is actually true and get me back on track. I Am Whole. I Am Complete. I Am Healed. I Am Strong. I Am Powerful. Just saying these statements and writing them out brings a surge of energy. I encourage you to affirm how powerful you are and what is most true about you!
7.) Giving and Receiving - As women we usually know how to give - it’s a part of our nature and has been reinforced in us socially. The problem is that oftentimes we know how to give, but are not as able to receive. Knowing ourselves and what we want, what we need, what our capacity is, and what our boundaries are is so important. It’s easy to give because we think we should or that we have to, but deciding what you will give your time and attention to in an intentional way because you are choosing to is the best way to receive in the process.
8.) Ditch Perfectionism - Perfect is an illusion. There is no perfect. There is only Being. Perfectionism is it's own prison. It creates a belief that if we try hard enough or change ourselves effectively enough, then we’ll have arrived in a life devoid of problems or pain and will be worthy of love. If anything perfectionism is a means to gain control and a tactic to avoid confronting our fear and vulnerability. I’ve learned that seeking perfection is futile. We are miraculous, magnificent beings and have the wisdom and love we need inside of us to confront life’s challenges. Learning to listen to ourselves in every area of our lives from what we choose to eat and how we take care of ourselves, to who we engage in relationship with, and how we choose to spend our time is a far better way to live and actually often leads us to what we are seeking.
9.) Let Go of What’s Toxic - Get rid of toxic personal care products, chemicals in your environment, and foods that are manufactured and processed. While you are at it, let go of anything in your life that makes you feel like you can’t trust yourself or that is holding you back from becoming the person you most desire to be. Fill your body, your mind, your spirit and your life with things that give you energy, clarity, peace, serenity, and joy. You are so deserving of feeling good!
10. ) Follow Your Heart’s Calling - Each of us is endowed with gifts, talents and a unique way of seeing and engaging with the world that we are meant to share with others. Too often, we forfeit pursuing the desires of our hearts out of fear or because we were dissuaded at some point in our lives. I spent many years choosing jobs and relationships because I was trying to please other people. My health reflected the ways that I was living out of integrity with myself and abandoning my true desires, attempting to convince myself that I could “make it work.” The body knows when we are abandoning ourselves. Follow your heart. Listen to your intuition. It’s scary to put yourself out there and make yourself vulnerable but the alternative is living a life where you feel far from yourself, and that is so much worse. You are here on purpose for a purpose - believe it!