Thanksgiving and Gold
“Off to the races”, the nurse said, as he started wheeling me down the cold hallway towards the surgery room.
I chuckled thinking out loud, “that’s what got me here”, as that familiar feeling of excitement and strength flooded back into my body.
“What?” he said confused.
I quickly told him a snapshot of what happened 30 years ago…I was a jockey, riding races, a horse went down with me resulting in a head injury, fractured skull, and a broken back. It ended my career.
He immediately became very apologetic and told me how he has been using that phrase for years but never had someone tell him a story like that before.
As he pushed me through the big door into the surgery room, where other people were waiting for us, I was in mid sentence saying how I have no regrets, injuries and all.
It was an interesting conversation between all on us as I climbed onto the table while they prepped my back for my fourth nerve ablation along four vertebrae in my thoracic spine, the area I broke my back long ago.
Inside my studio, I have a sign that I deeply connect to that reads, There Is Gold In Every Piece Of Your Story.
Over the past 22 years, I have heard many stories from clients as I help people navigate chronic spinal issues, migraines, and other forms of chronic pain.
We all have our unique story and our own healing journey, the ups and downs, the twists and turns, but how we reflect upon our story and the choices we get to make following is powerful.
I have witnessed how some people are stuck, held by their story and how the ripple effect of a limiting mindset greatly impacts their life and happiness. And others who can hold both the hard, the suck, the challenges, along with the beautiful shifts they have made in their life and the personal growth which gives them meaning and fulfillment.
For me, I honor and acknowledge those challenges, the hard moments, what I have been through, and continue to walk through. I have a rock solid holistic self care plan which includes a team that adds additional support to what my body needs as I navigate degenerative changes. All while, recognizing that it is because of those challenges, and uncomfortableness that has pushed me into places deep inside of myself that I am not sure I would have accessed otherwise, that has shaped me into the person, parent, and friend I am today. And for that, I am grateful.
Peace can be found when you can HOLD both the challenges, the hard, the suck, and uncomfortableness along with the new insights, compassion, and tapping into the place inside of yourself where empowerment lives.
On this Thanksgiving weekend we reflect and give thanks to those people who have touched our lives in a profound way. Please do not forget to give thanks to yourself, too, for all that you have overcome or continue to walk through, the many lessons along your healing journey.
Where can you find gold that weaves throughout your story?
Wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving.
In health and happiness -
Julie