Episode 076 – Why you doubt recovery is possible

Hello loves, today I’m talking about why you doubt recovery is possible.

Even I had my moments, sitting in that clinic. On one hand so determined to be discharged from there much sooner than the two years they usually suggest, but on the other, with some people still there way past two years, wondering if any sort of recovery was even possible.

It doesn’t help that for many chronic illnesses we don’t really know what is possible from recovery, it’s not one size fits all. 

Exploring things that may help someone recover can cause resistance to the idea that recovery is possible. It can be devastating to get your hopes up, which is why some people choose instead not to believe in recovery. Add to this is the stigma and misinformation about chronic illnesses, creates an inability to begin to understand how to solve the problem. It’s important to realise that recovery can include everything that creates improved quality of life. To live life your way, on your terms.

Recovery isn’t about going back to the life you had before diagnosis. 

That just isn’t possible. The same as you couldn’t go back to how life was before a relationship, or having children. You can get some semblance to it, but you can’t get back exactly the same.

For a long time in the early days I hoped for full recovery so I wouldn’t have to tell people I had an illness. I didn’t want to be judged, shamed, or appear weak. For a long time people would tell me how strong I am, living life with a chronic illness. My default answer being “I have no other choice”. But that stemmed from being single, and having a mortgage to pay, and no one to help me out. I had to keep going to work. In spite of it.

It was only after doing some of the work that now forms part of my SHIFT to Alignment programme, that I realised 

that “I have no other choice” meant something else. I could either sit on the sofa for the rest of my life, being miserable and wallowing in self-pity, or I could find new ways of doing things I wanted to do, and live my life.

Believe me, I have had many pity parties. I’ve had many “I thought I was done with this rubbish”. Although those came about because I wasn’t taking care of myself properly and trying to do way too much, and not give myself the nutritious food my body needed.

I now know that I can do one big thing in a weekend, and the rest of the time is for rest or laid back activities. I know that I need to account for my hormones. I know that if I want to feel better tomorrow I need to eat well today.

Self-doubt isn’t a bad thing. 

It’s a feeling we have because we think some nonsense about something we’re wanting to do is going to be hard. If you’re experiencing self-doubt, you’re in good company. Most people are experiencing self-doubt every day. From stuff they have to do at work, to taking on a DIY project wondering if they’ll finish in time and if not be stuck with the mess for another weekend aka don’t believe they know what they’re doing. People who train for a marathon have self-doubt. People trying to lose weight have self-doubt.

The self-doubt isn’t the problem, your reaction to the self-doubt is. You have two choices. The first is to let the self-doubt cause self-sabotage. The second is to take that self-doubt and choose to try it anyway.

If you’d like to know more on how to shift your self-doubt, reach out to me to see if my SHIFT to alignment coaching programme is a fit for you. You can book a free consult call, the link is in my shownotes. You can also reach out to me via Instagram or send me an email, I’ve put a link to both of those in the shownotes. I can’t wait to see your journey.

Thanks for listening, and remember – you are worth it, and you get to choose.

Have a lovely day.