Three Reminders For When Everyone Else Is "Moving On"
When you have a chronic illness, sometimes it can just seem like everyone around you is moving on with their lives while you’re just stuck in pain. This is a very real and very true experience for millions around the world who are crippled by chronic pain or a debilitating illness. When I find myself wanting to compare what I know to be true of my world with what seems to be true of someone else’s, I have to remind myself that what's happening on the outside doesn't tell the true story. We are made up of the changes taking place on the inside.
Change is inevitable; there’s no avoiding it. We can, however, choose to change preemptively, before life pushes us into being forced to change. I would recommend focusing on a few key areas of this preemptive change, and they may not be what you expect.
1) Groom your attitude
With the same kind of effort and focus you put into grooming our appearance.
2) Dig it up
Dig up the dirt below the surface to get at what you really believe and why.
3) Retrain your response system
Our work in life is not in what happens, but in how we choose to respond to what happens.
So when you look around you and feel like everyone else is "moving on" remember what's been moving inside of you, and never forget what you've told to hit the road; those pesky insecurities and habits, reactions and that willingness to buy into crappy attitudes. We can't compare the changes we go through on the inside or outside, but we can be grateful for both.
"Character can not be achieved in the ease and quiet. Only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved." -Helen Keller
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