Day 24 Positive changes due to structured education program

Hi all,

Day 24's question to ponder is whether I've experienced positive changes while undertaking this program.

The answer is yes, and the most obvious answer is with regard to the pain. My pain wasn't extreme to begin with, it was just a chronically bad back that got aggravated from certain activities, especially sitting.

Within a week or two of starting this course, it got a LOT worse, and it moved to my legs. Apparently this very common. It surprised me a lot and made me question whether I would ever be one of the success stories.

Well I can say that the pain isn't nearly as bad now, but it still happens when I do sitting of any sort. The thing is I'm not afraid of it and try really hard not to view it with pessimism when it does happen (I think I'm winning in this regard). If I'm particularly stressed or feel like I don't have the mental strength to challenge it (usually at the end of the working week when I'm tired), I might take a painkiller just to get me through the day.

Then there are the changes I'm trying to make to my behaviour and personality, to move away from the traits that make me vulnerable to TMS. In my case these are anxiety, self-esteem and goodism. I'm catching myself more often reacting to a situation with self-talk that demands perfectionism, rather than acceptance of my imperfection. So when I see myself do it, I stand down and say to myself it's ok to be imperfect at this etc etc. Ultimately accepting myself as I am.

I'm almost thankful that I've had TMS. Before I ever considered my pain as emotionally based, I just saw it as something I was powerless to fix and accepted it with a sense of doom. But the great thing about linking them to the emotions, to deal with one (the pain) you need to deal with the other (your emotional baggage). So you end up improving your mental life as well as your physical one - two for the price of one!

Now I try to see the pain not so much as overwhelming and undesirable, but as a barometer of my emotional state.

 

Great post! Congratulations on your success so far.

 

Hi, if 6 was 9. It's very good that you have recognized you are a perfectionist and goodist. Now just try to modify those traits because they are harmful to you and others. I have both of those personality traits and have learned to modify both. I am a writer but know I am not a great writer, just a good one. And I can do just so much for others. I think in the long run, it's better not to over-do goodism. Let others help themselves.