Positive Affirmations
Emma wrote recently about Mohammad Ali and how it created her own motivational mantra. How positive affirmations helped her feel some much better day to day.
I used to think that mantras were just for the hippies. The brown rice and sandals brigade. (Disclaimer – I own both brown rice and sandals) However recently I’ve become very interested in the power of this. Why? Well there is a lot of talk around our ‘stages’ of Parkinson’s and how we need to live in the now, because clearly the future is not bright, so throw away those shades. (If you’re wondering what that is all about, I’m showing my age…)
Everything I read about Parkinson’s tells us that ‘this will happen’ and use terms like ‘you will.’ I don’t personally like these terms. Why? Well it’s simple. I believe it creates a self-fulfilling prophecy. If I continually tell you that ‘you will feel bad when you see me’ then eventually you will feel bad when you see me. It’s the same with Parkinson’s. Well, I think it is.
I know that to some extent there is nothing that we can do. I mean, I’m not stupid. I know that this thing will continue to creep on me, kill my brain cells and try to do horrible stuff to me. BUT. (And here’s the thing.) It might not. I might end up in a wheelchair. And I might not. I might end up losing all my faculties. And I might not.
I might get hit by a bus tomorrow.
And I might not.
See? We’re always being told that we ‘will get worse.’ However, there are so many people out there that have had Parkinson’s for decades and are still living fulfilling lives. Some are not. Yet, and this is the crucial thing, if you have young onset Parkinson’s, you’re going to have it for a really, really long time. Well. I hope I do. (Another disclaimer, feel free to find a cure and help me get rid of it. However, in lieu of a fabled cure, I’d like to grow very old thank you.) I want to be a little old lady some day. I’ve been told it’ll come soon enough. At present I’ve just celebrated my 46th birthday. May they be many, many more. My Dad tells me it’s an odd thing to realise that you have more behind you than you have in front. I sincerely hope I’m not there yet.
But I digress. It’s like people take some kind of perverse pleasure in pointing out that you’re sick. What really gets me is that the very same organisations that tell you ‘everyone’s different’ are also telling us we’re going to get worse. It’s the language I have an issue with. By consistently telling us ‘we will’ instead of ‘we may’ some of us actually WILL when perhaps… with a little positive reinforcement… we might not have.
Why should we bother exercising when we’re told we WILL get worse? Why try to push against our physical issues when we know it’s futile? You see what I’m saying?
Here are my suggestions:
Instead of ‘you will’ try ‘some people might’ or ‘you may’. Always couple it with ‘you may not experience this at all’.
Language is powerful and should be used thoughtfully and carefully.
Until next time, Kitty.
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Kitty Fitton is a motivational speaker, MC and comedian. She is also a full-time blogger and writer. She is mother to four small people and was very cross to discover she had Parkinson’s Disease.
Find out more at her personal site below.
Emma Kyriacou is a real-life ninja. Taking up Karate to help fight her Parkinson’s Disease, she’s co-founder of Good Moves and is passionate about promoting exercise to improve mobility and neuroplasticity. (Is that a word? It should be.)
Find out more at her personal site below.
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