3 Weird Things I Do that Have Helped Me Conquer Chronic Illness (They Apply To You Too, EVEN If You Are Not CHRONICALLY Ill…)
My whole mission at Passionate Purpose School is to help people realize that living with a passionate purpose truly changes your circumstances.
And it changes them because YOU have to change how you show up.
Today I’m going to share 3 weird things I did that helped me overcome chronic illness and get my life back. I’m going to show you how these apply to you, even if you don’t have chronic illness.
Let’s go.
#1 — I tell my body it’s doing a great job allllll the time… even if it’s not currently!
If they handed out gold medals for how well you could continuously insult yourself in your head, I promise you I’d have dozens of them for how I used to talk to myself in the past.
Then one day I realized that wasn’t working. I don’t know where we get the idea that we can shame ourselves into doing what’s best for us. All I know is that it is not a Godly idea on any level.
God convicts us but He never SHAMES us. He takes AWAY our shame.
So instead of saying mean things to myself about my body (I see this in the chronic illness space all the time) like:
my body hates me
my body is against me
my body is broken
I started to do the exact opposite.
Every time I could accomplish the smallest of tasks, I would thank my body for doing so. I would tell it it was amazing and that it was doing so well!
I’d celebrate the tiniest victories in a huge way.
We do this with babies, why don’t we do this with ourselves?
We don’t ridicule a baby who is wobbling while learning to walk.
We don’t withhold praise until they can run a 4-minute mile (for some people that means we would withhold praise forever!)
Two little steps would have their parents erupting in cheers and applause.
If you are going through a rough time, let that be you too!!
#2 — Whenever it seems hard, I tell myself that God placed more in me than I currently “feel” at the time.
Why is this important?
It replaces a multitude of lies the devil would like me to believe.
It covers:
God can’t do it.
I’m too old.
I’m too sick.
I’m too broken.
This has gone on too long.
It doesn’t matter.
Might as well quit.
(Fill in the blank with any type of “I’m lacking or God is lacking” thoughts.)
It also covers the fact that feelings IN GENERAL can lie to us.
Your brain does not tell you the truth, it tells you what it is familiar with. It repeats patterns.
We can’t build up strength, resilience, consistency, or persistence if we tap out when we encounter a bit of resistance.
We have to break free of that pattern.
I think about Gideon OFTEN!!! Often!!!
God called him a mighty warrior and said He was with him, even though Gideon didn’t FEEL like God was with him OR that he was mighty in any way.
I come back to Gideon in my thoughts on most days (I’m serious) and remind myself to go in the strength I have… and I always seem to have more strength than when I started.
Where are you letting feelings dictate your decisions rather than God?
Where are you tapping out instead of gearing up?
#3 — I. STAY. IN. MY. LANE. I reframe EVERYTHING so it is for me, my good and growth, and GOD’S glory.
The only person I compare myself to is who I was yesterday…
and who God wants me to be tomorrow.
It’s foolish to do anything else.
When my weights seem reeeeeeally heavy, like a weight I’ve used for years suddenly feels like twice what it actually is because my body is having a rough day…
I stop.
I breathe.
Then I gently put my hands on the weights and say in my head, “these are my friends.” Almost like I’m speaking a blessing over what is about to happen.
THEN I pick them up, and as I am getting into position to lift, I say to myself:
“These are making me stronger.
These are bringing me more healing.
These are helping me be the best Dorothy God created me to be.”
And I follow it up with a few of:
This is me becoming the best grandma I can be.
This is me loving my future self ahead of time.
This is me going in the strength I have.
Yep, I know. I’m weird.
But these 3 weird habits have taken me farther than any doctor or anyone else around me thought was possible… even way farther than I originally thought was possible.
So how far could they take YOU?
What would they look like for you?
Let’s examine #1
Where do you need to STOP berating yourself and start celebrating small victories?
Come on, be honest with yourself. You KNOW there is an area.
Decide TODAY to never berate yourself again. Period.
Let’s examine #2
Where do you need to stop letting feelings control the show?
Where do you need to step up instead of step back?
Not to prove yourself, that is the entirely WRONG energy we are going for.
But to be a successful steward of the time, energy, and GRIT God has bestowed upon you.
Grit is cultivated, not hardwired. It is learned.
Let’s examine #3
Where are you out of your lane?
Where do you need to stop comparing and go in the strength YOU have?
Where do you need to reframe your circumstances?
How are they FOR you and for God’s glory?
Just like Gideon, God has an overwhelming victory prepared for you if you do. It may look far different from what you think, but there is one, I promise.
This is your invitation to be weird like me and encourage yourself at every turn.
Because this type of weirdness brings mind freedom!!
And that is what I pray for you all the time. 💙
In passionate purpose,
Dorothy
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