What did you think when read this? For me it was like a boom to my thoughts.

"you alone are responsible for taking an interest in your own growth"

Have you taken an interest in your own growth? What does "personal growth" mean to you?

"Understanding your deepest fears and pain is what will move you forward."

Do you think you can do it? Can you face and understand your fears so you can move beyond your pain? What are your fears? What's holding you back? What do you need to do for you? How can you grow yourself? 

"If you can do this, you will be rewarded with not only a deeper connection with yourself, but with others." It's true! you will see that you are stronger than you believe yourself to be (just for starters). But there are rewards...compassion, empathy, and a deeper understanding for and of yourself and with others. Acceptance is a big word too...do you accept who you are? Do you allow others to be who they are without it impacting who you are? 

There is growth to be had when we pause and remember.

Picture found on-line (orginal source unknown) and edit done by me

What are your thoughts like right now? 
Are they helpful or hurtful to your furture? 

Could your future really begin with your next thought? Absolutely! it can. But you have to make the choice. You have to choose to change your thoughts. 

What are you thinking? What do you believe? Could you change those thoughts to something more empowering for you moving forward? 

Your future begins with your next thought. Will your thoughts stay the same? Will your life then stay the same? Yes! it will. BUT and it's a big one...if you make the conscious choice to change your thoughts...you can change your life. You can impact your future and you can make changes. YOU can!

Your future begins with your next thought...curious me wants to know...what will your next thought be? and what will you do for you moving forward? You have the choice...choose you!  

When I was struggling I saw a wonderful woman who reminded me of something...

Even in the darkest moments of our lives... we can grow...we can learn...we can change and become...more than we ever were before. 

Something will grow from all this pain and it will be YOU!


Picture taken by my daughter Emily

I still have a long way to go but I'm already so far from where I used to be and I am proud of that.

When was the last time you took the time to acknowledge how far you've come? 

When was the last time you told yourself you're proud of you?

Yes...you may still have a long way to go but you're already so far from where you used to                                                                                                            be...be proud of that!
Picture taken by my daughter Emily.

Have you ever felt like this? Are the issues you're gnawing on the same old issues you've always had? The same old boring flaws and anxieties too?

When asked how your day was...do you ever respond....same sh*t different day? or maybe you say...it's was just like every other day? 

WHAT DO YOU SAY?

Now the next questions I have are...

Would you agree that what you say is a reflection of your attitude towards your life?  

If you viewed your day and the happenings within it differently...could your response change? 

What about if you took the time to notice and appreciate how bright the sun shines? Or how the birds sing? What if you took the time to notice and appreciate all the different moments in your life...even the little things too? Could the things you think about during your day...impact how you feel about it? What about how you feel about yourself? 

If all the gnawing you've been doing hasn't changed things...and you're still feeling weary from it all...try something different...and let it begin with you and your thoughts.

​take good care of you eh? 

I've spent a lot time wishing I could be who I was...the me before my pain. I wanted it so badly that I didn't and couldn't see who I had become. 

Who I thought I was before my pain is not who I am now. I've changed. Some of it's been for the good and better of my life and some of it not...my pain has changed me and my life. 

Sometimes...you gotta leave who you were to find who you are. Who are you now? Do you know? Or are you still looking for who you were? 

We can't keep living for who we were because it's not who we are anymore. Live for and love who you are now. 

The journey through pain is always further than it looks. There are days when you will wonder "when will it ever end" and there will be days too when you question your abilities to keep going. You're tired, you need a break, and you need the pain to stop.

And the work to make it through? Well that's harder than it looks too. Sometimes I think we get lost in the pain and forget that we have options. We forget that we are in control and not our pain. We forget our strengths and we forget our courage. We forget.

Yes things have happened to us...things we had no control over...but you know what? We have the control now. We have the control in how we respond to what life brings us. We control how we will allow those things to change us. We have the control.

A journey through pain is always further than it looks, harder than it looks, and it's always worth it! The things we can learn about ourselves, our abilities, our thoughts and more...we can grow through our pain. We can make something positive out of it all...and that can be ourselves...our thoughts, our care for our own needs, and our lives moving forward. We are worth the effort we make for ourselves, our health, and our healing too...we are worth it.

Yes...the journey through pain is always further than it looks, harder thank it looks, and...it's always worth it...and so are YOU!
​
Take good care of you eh? 

When you give thought to your choices in life...do they reflect your hopes or your fears?

When I asked myself this question...I had to answer both...some days it's my hopes and others it's my fears. Hope for a better life and fear of failing is something that I struggle with. I have a few others too. Do you? 

Our fears keep us from our hopes and they keep us from exploring our lives to the best of our abilities. Our fears keep us static and stuck. Do your fears interfere with your hopes? 


​Hope has become my favourite four letter word and even the smallest string is enough.  Our hopes can become our dreams...and having some hope can see us through even the darkest of days. Hope can inspire, encourage and empower new life choices and it can bring us beyond our fears. 

May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears. 

Have you ever been asked out by your friends and your first thought goes to what could happen? What could happen with your pain if you were to go? Did you think of how much pain you would be in? Did that thought scare you? Did you stay or did you go? 

I can admit it...those thoughts still go through my head and more often than I'd like. But you know what? We will feel pain regardless, and staying home...isolating ourselves...will not make the pain any less. It won't and you know that. And if we give in to the fear of feeling our pain...it makes nothing happen in our lives. 
​
When living a life with chronic pain we can't let our fear of what could happen make nothing happen. Live your life for you and not your pain. Do what makes you feel good, what makes you enjoy being you, and when you've lived beyond your pain...when you've made things happen in your life...take the time to soothe yourself and to take care of your needs.

Don't let the fear of what could happen make nothing happen....live beyond your fear and your pain.