Take Time To Look Back and See How Far You Have Come

When we’re on a long healing journey, it’s easy to focus on how far we have to go rather than how far we have come. I’ve experienced this pitfall so many times during my concussion healing. It was such a struggle to regain my physical strength because my brain would overreact to tiny amounts of exercise. I had to progress so slowly to allow my brain to calibrate to each new movement. At times, the pace was so maddening. It felt like watching a snail crawl along a branch. All I could see was what I couldn’t do that I wanted to do.

Finally, with some healthy mirroring from somebody more objective, I shifted my focus to one of gratitude for every tiny improvement. I started to celebrate the smallest shifts and I credit that change in perspective for helping me continue to heal.

There are still many things that I still can’t do that I wish I could. I desperately miss yoga inversions for one thing. That might sound trivial and an odd thing to miss but after twenty years of daily yoga, not being able to invert is a big change in lifestyle. Every time that missing arises, I take a moment, let it be there and then choose to find gratitude for all things that I can do.

This past week I was in a stressful extended family situation and many things weren’t as I wished them to be. I was out of my regular self-care routines and was holding space for many people who were upset. But through it all, I felt physically well. None of my symptoms returned and that made me grateful.

Find ways to celebrate yourself. Celebrate your wellness even within the mess of your un-wellness. If you look, you’ll find something to be grateful for, some part that has progressed. When we focus on how far we have come it creates a much more stable base to support where we want to go.