Remember, whatever you focus upon, increases.
When you focus on the things you need, you'll find those needs increasing.
If you concentrate your thoughts on what you don't have, you will soon be concentrating on other things that you had forgotten you don't have
-and feel worse!
If you set your mind on loss, you are more likely to lose...
But a grateful perspective brings happiness and abundance into a person's life.
-Andy Andrews
I don’t know about you, but sometimes I forget the most important aspect of my current life - I survived a stroke! I’m still here, a living, breathing, walking, talking human being, as opposed to other possible outcomes.
I find myself focusing on what hasn’t healed yet, instead of what has, and how far I’ve come since those early days.
Instead, I’m now choosing (yes, it’s a choice) to focus on the fact that…..
I’m a survivor!
and so are you!
Why am I focusing on this now more than ever, after seven years post-stroke? Along with continuous self-reflection, I met a woman named Leslie in my book writing group who had a serious bicycle accident, where she cracked open her skull, had a near-death-experience (NDE), and was in a coma for a week. After months of neuro-therapy, she was fortunate enough to fully recover all of her movements and is now writing a book about it.
After hearing her story, my initial reaction was that of comparing my lack of full recovery with hers - a “no-no” for us, but very tempting! Once I dissected my reaction, I realized how self-defeating it was, and thought about the fact she’d experienced a completely different type of stroke than I did; thus, our side effects and recoveries would be considerably different and we were different people at different ages in our lives. She’d had a hemorrhagic stroke (a brain hemorrhage); and I’d had an ischemic stroke (a blood clot, stopping blood flow to the brain). These two types present themselves very, very differently. An acquaintance of mine had a hemorrhagic stroke and experienced very different side effects than I did.
Are you aware of the type of stroke you experienced? If not, ask your doctor and/or review this information from Stroke.org, click here.
Remember, you wouldn’t have the choice of being grateful if you hadn’t survived! Feel free to comment below!
And I’m glad you did!
Wishing you all an amazing fall season!
Maureen
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