If this challenge is weighing you down and you feel your energy waning, don’t despair. Don’t lose heart. No matter how long you have been waiting, the break you are waiting for will eventually come. Until then, you must find the strength to continue to persevere. Fighting… resisting… making the catastrophic thoughts your truth… these will all breed hopelessness and lead to a sense of desperation and overwhelm.
So, you must trust that while you cannot see the bigger picture, the process that is unfolding is doing so in the timing, patterns (or non-patterns), and sequence that are just right for you – exactly what your body needs in order to heal. Trust in its innate intelligence, resilience, and self-healing capabilities. Trust that you will find the patience, the will, the strength, the acceptance, and the courage to cope and to care for yourself well, while you patiently wait.
While you wait, be proactive: do your neuroplasticity exercises (including mindfulness, visualization, learning new hobbies, courses, etc.), but don’t do too much too quickly. Practice self-kindness and self-compassion and be gentle with yourself and patient with nervous system as it works to restore homeostasis. Pace yourself (introduce things one at a time and gradually), eat healthily, move your body (stretches, walking, mindful movements, gentle yoga, etc.). Explore and find what works for you, keeping in mind that no one size fits all, and that your body is your best guide.
More than anything, trust that the outcome will be a good one… your recovery. Listen to that still, small but powerful voice that, when you feel like you can’t take another step, keeps whispering, “You will make it. Just keep going” … That voice that tells you despite how futile things may appear to be right now, you ARE okay and one day you are going to be able to say, “I made it. I made it.” Choose to let this be the strongest of the voices.
As much as you can, accept that you are healing and that one day this will all be behind you. You tell yourself withdrawal will not win. You may at times bend with its impact, but you will never be broken. Then you lift your chin up, you take a deep breath… and you exhale… Then you carry on, as you have been doing, with a steely determination, and HOPE as your constant companion.
With much compassion,
