General
Saying yes to your life
I just got home from a vacation in the Canadian rockies with my husband. We hiked, enjoyed the sights, and on the way home I attended a writing workshop with Elizabeth Gilbert (who wrote eat, pray, love)
I bought a ticket to this workshop at the beginning of this year, not knowing how I'd get there and that I'd probably go alone. I made a promise to myself this year, post abdominal wall transplant and finally entering this healthy stage of my life, to say yes and figure it out on the way. I don't want to be the person who doesn't live life because I'm too scared of what might happen.
Elizabeth talked about this during her workshop, and how if the brain doesn't know how something will end, it assumes it will end in your death. She talks about approaching life with a sense of curiosity over fear. And she asked what is now one of my most favourite questions: What are you excited about in your life currently? Or to put it another way, what is helping you survive this hard and painful life? How do you keep going?
I've faced a lot of terrible things and had devastating losses in my life, as I'm sure we all have. And somehow I'm still alive, as are you. I don't want to just be alive, I want to act like it. I want to be the person who takes chances and shows up and takes the stance of curiosity over fear. Maybe I'll fail, maybe it'll all work out, maybe I'll die and maybe I won't. None of that changes my fundamental belonging as a person on this planet.
So I want to ask you, friends, what you're excited about in your life currently? What is helping you survive this hard world? What are you saying yes to and where are you choosing to be curious?
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Wow, this really has me thinking. I am saying yes to adventure with my husband and son. Yes to camping, hiking, kayaking in the lakes, SUP, sporting events, and whatever else. I am saying yes to new career opportunities, and learning opportunities. I am excited for what is to come, and I try really hard to be at peace with where I am, and not worry about what I have gone through.
Transplant Patient
yes! It's so hard sometimes isn't it? I realized I had this mindset of I can't do certain things because I had a transplant, or because of what I've been through, or that certain things will never be accessible for me. Or like I'm missing out on something. Which the thing I'm missing out on by wishing for something different is actually my life.
Things like seeing the world transplant games happening right now, and people like @Jillbest sharing their stories has been really influential for me in seeing what's possible for me. I say it all the time, that we can't be it unless we can see it, and we need those people going before us showing us that we can do it, and teaching us how
I love this so much @AliEm14 !!! Way to go and I can’t wait to hear more about your adventures and vacay. That sounds incredible.
I’m currently excited about my front yard and spring. I just got some herbs and we’ve been hard at work clearing away weeds and making room for a vegetable garden this summer.
I’m also excited about my life coaching business. I’m so incredibly grateful that I’ve found a way to help people in the chronic illness community and to support my growth, health, and healing. It’s a win-win.