I am over-the-moon excited to finally be able to share that I will be giving a TEDx talk next month! This is a dream come true, and I am also super stoked that I will be giving the talk in India of all places!!! Traveling around the world (and this one literally is all the way around the world!), has been a dream of mine and to also bring my family with me 🙂 I will be bringing along my 12-year-old son on this trip, who has developed a love for history thanks to an inspirational history teacher he is fortunate enough to have this year.
So about that time that I got an MRI…well actually that was really just this past Tuesday 😉 This was completely unexpected, and I want to share the lessons I learned and how it pertains to letting go of the stories we tell ourselves on a deeper level 🙂 I hope you will enjoy the lessons and that they help you too!
We have been focusing on the theme “support “this month in our Global Circle community. Careful what you ask for! Boy did I receive an opportunity to practice it!!
I was coaching my son‘s basketball practice recently with another Mom, and we decided to participate in the scrimmage portion of the practice. We both grew up playing basketball, and myself in particular tended to be on the more aggressive side with often getting fouls and sometimes, not always, getting fouled out of the game!! So being a little rough is not foreign to me. Well, the other Mom ended up bleeding, and I sustained a hard blow to the chin that I did not see coming! Yikes!! This resulted in a concussion and whiplash for me!
What I have learned is how to receive support from all different places. I hadn’t planned on going to the doctors office, as unfortunately I am well-versed in concussion protocol due to my son now having had four of them. But after checking in with the nurse at my doctor’s office, she highly recommended that I go in. When I went into see the doctor, she as predicted, confirmed that yes in fact I did have a concussion and that I also had whiplash, which I did not realize. She was also concerned about where the pain was in the back of my neck, and ordered an x-ray to be taken. She indicated if things still looked off, that she would have a CAT scan of my neck and entire head done. At this point, I had to rally the troops for my upcoming school pickup! Imagine realizing your carpool cancelled, recruiting your friend to do the pick-up, and calling the school to confirm all of this in the span of about 3 minutes. When we ask for help, help is granted!! Thank goodness for great friends 🙂
What the doctor found was different than what she was anticipating, and she therefore wanted to do an MRI instead. She rushed the order for the MRI, and I had one within the hour. I know that this is unheard of due to my insurance adjusting days with helping people arrange appointments when they were injured in car accidents. Even the nurse indicated that getting in so quickly was not the norm.
I was more concerned about actually having the MRI then what the MRI might show due to claustrophobic feelings! So I proceeded to try to talk myself out of these thoughts, but feeling the panic rising as the minutes passed. That tingling panic attack feeling started to come on. After getting some helpful tips from the nurse, I went in less panicked and ended up being pleasantly surprised! It was actually nice and comfortable in there, and I was able to stay calm throughout by breathing and practicing the meditation practices I have been doing for so many years now.
The ego is legit.
It’s amazing the stories it wants to tell us to get us all worked up for nothing. We’ve gotta let it go. How much more peaceful would it be if we could truly watch our thoughts like an observer, and let them float on by?! See the “Chris Recommends” section for a great resource on this 🙂
I actually surprised myself. As much as I would like to believe, and I definitely do deep down, that we are eternal and our soul and spirit lives on when we’re not in our bodies anymore, I do get scared when health things come up. This is definitely a challenge for me to move through. I’m the type of person that when I get the flu, I start to convince myself that I’m on my deathbed and get overwhelmed with panic. I talk a big game, but when a health issue arises, I definitely find it threatening. So I was proud of myself for being able to move through any uncomfortable feelings and that I was able to really put the practices to use that I so love and enjoy. These practices exist not only to help with the day-to-day challenges that we face, but also the bigger and scarier stuff.
There is something to be said when we can apply these practices to situations that feel more threatening. Even though in the bigger picture these experiences are no worse than the another, just like with miracles there is no difference in size 🙂 It all comes down to the judgment we give these experiences.
In keeping with our theme of support this month, this definitely showed up for me to practice thoroughly. As I was wheeled back to my room after the MRI, with an ocean view along the way, I thought only in California! The results were totally fine, and I am so thankful for all of the support that I received from the medical team, friends and family, and even our loving dog Gracie 🙂
It’s always amazing to me how support can come in. It comes from the divine guidance we all have access to. Regardless of what our belief system is as to what that higher power is, support is channeled through people, ideas and opportunities. We just need to be willing to put our own pride, and egos aside, in order to receive the love and support that is there for all of us at any given moment in time. We just need to ask and be open to receiving. Often it’s just a shift in our thoughts that will take us down a much more empowered and loving path.