When dealing with Chronic Illness people often ask me how I cope with it all. The scary future. The loss of certain dreams. The uncertainty. I used to just shrug. I was never sure how to answer that question. After all, it was mainly just about surviving, not coping. Just taking it day by day. Step by step. I used to try to control things around me, hoping it would give me some sort of control over what was happening to me. That didn’t happen. I ended up stressed, depressed and on edge. Not very helpful at all. Not a very effective way of coping either! It wasn’t until I realised that I could not control what went on around me, I could only control myself and how I felt, that I found myself some peace.
As Ralph Waldo Emerson mentioned: “Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.”
You bring peace into your life by choosing peace. Sometimes you have to choose to be happy. Despite the chaos around you. You cannot rely on someone, something or somewhere to bring you peace and happiness. You have to give it to yourself. And to do that you have to make a conscious decision to do that which gives you that feeling of peace and happiness. Everyone needs to have that conversation with themselves, the one where you say to yourself:
“I am never going to feel happy or peaceful if I do not decide to bring it into my life and allow myself to embrace it. I am the only person in the world who has the ability to control how I feel. No one else has the power to effect how I feel about something – that is all my responsibility. I need to make conscious decision to be happy, to lead a joyous life.”
The next time someone or something throws you into a spin, remind yourself that only YOU can control how you feel so how do you feel about this problem? No one can force you to feel sad or angry. Just as no one can force you to feel happy. You do it yourself. This means that you had the power to make yourself happy along! You need to make that choice. So make the decision! It will be your own happiness that you are creating…..!
All the best, Lily
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