Success is measured by ...

[Forest]

Hi everyone,

Stock Trader has made terrific strides in overcoming his symptoms recently. It's a real pleasure to see, and I wanted to pass on some words of wisdom that he shared in the chat room last night (our Call-In Discussion Group met last night and, as we hope will happen, we had some great discussion going on in the chat room at the same time).

Here's the quote:

My TMS success is no longer measured by whether or not I am having symptoms during an activity. Success is measured by how little I care. It is an off calendar thing. Need to move on and enjoy life.

There is so much hard-won TMS wisdom in this quote! It can take a while before you fully incorporate this type of thinking deep in your unconscious, but I have to believe that this sort of attitude must have been an important factor in Trader's success. One of the most important keys to TMS healing is being able to disrespect your TMS symptoms. Remember, they are just protective mild oxygen deprivation there to distract you. So don't let them! Measure your success in how little you care and then move on and enjoy your life.

 

[chickenbone]

Congratulations, Stock Trader. I am so happy that you are having success. You are so right. I often notice that my relapses are characterized, not by a return of symptoms, but if I notice or care about symptoms. Good work!!

 

[trypp]

That works really well for me, too. I think that that is why it helps some people to read and reread Dr. Sarno's books. Once they accept the diagnosis, they don't care about their symptoms, and they can finally relax and enjoy life a little more. And relaxing and taking life less seriously is like the holy grail for people with TMS. It's what we need but it doesn't come naturally.