I’m lucky enough to be away again at the moment*, in the Cotswolds with my parents. We’ve been having a wonderful time, but after a meal out last night, (with my trusty loop noise reducing earbuds) my energy isn’t great today, so I’ve decided to take a restflowy** self-care day instead.
In my situation, many might see not being able to keep up with a couple of 80+ yr olds as a frustrating and disappointing illustration of living with a chronic illness. It can be really challenging, on a not so good day, not to be invaded by illness thoughts.
First are the thoughts of not being able to do today. There might also be the thoughts about having done too much. Then there are the symptoms that call out for your attention, and then there may be thoughts about what you might not be able to do tomorrow or the day after that.
I’m describing these thoughts from memory because I now know how important it is to keep my thoughts directed toward what I want to create.
So, instead of focusing on ‘not being able to’ I choose to direct my thoughts towards what I can enjoy today. I made myself some really nice tea and found a little nest in the living room to relax and enjoy some easy Sudoku’s and my Karla Sorensen romance on my e-reader.
Instead of thinking about my symptoms and how they’re holding me back, I choose to focus on giving my body what it needs and opening to the flow of wellness. I choose to see myself as a self-care queen, someone dedicated to being well and enjoying every aspect of life.
Instead of thoughts about having done too much I allow things to be exactly as they are, I focus just on what my body needs in the here and now and trust that I have access to unlimited life force energy and that my cells will all be working towards wellness as long as I relax and allow them to.
Instead of predicting what I may or may not be able to do tomorrow, I choose to trust that by taking great care of myself today I’ll optimise my opportunities for tomorrow and make the most of whatever that might look like. I set my intention to bounce back quickly and visualise being able to have a gentle stroll in some woodland tomorrow, but I let go of any attachment to that outcome and trust that I’ll enjoy my holiday in whatever shape I am able to.
I hope this has given you some inspiration for how to turn your thoughts towards wellness even on those days when it’s challenging! Use my contact form if you’d like to find out more about how I could support you to create joyful wellness the easy way!
*Although I was able to write this post during my restflowy day, it wasn’t a good time for me to do the work involved in posting it to my blog, so this is going live almost 2 weeks after I wrote it.
**restflowy is a word I made up to avoid the negative connotations of ‘having a lazy day’ and focus instead on the delicious feeling of indulging in going with the flow with your body’s need for rest. (When I used to work 9-5 it would be that Sunday morning feeling of being able to take it slow and not do anything you didn’t want to!)
