The following question was posed to me. Do you have a quote you live your life by or think of often? The quick answer would be yes.
I’ll be honest for most of my years on the planet I have dodged the use of meaningful quotes like a word ninja. However the handing down of life changing diagnosis meant I did a bit of re thinking recently.
I was mid workout with Jillian Michaels shouting out words of encouragement when she said something that has subsequently become my go to mantra.
A Quote for Me
During the work out Jillian Michaels says :
‘if you fight for those limitations you get the keep them’.
When the doctors gave me my diagnosis they pretty much implied that it was ‘game over’. The picture they painted pretty bleak.
For a short moment I was nearly taken in by this. Until I heard Jill’s words. In bit of a light bulb moment it occurred to me that might apply to me. If I started to think I couldn’t do things pretty soon I wouldn’t be able to.
Obviously I can’t control the speed at which the disease will progress or how it will ultimately impact my life but I can definitely not impose premature limitations on myself.
Game Changing
It really was a game changer mentally & altered my mind set. It’s set me on a path of trying to work out how I can still do things rather than just accepting I can’t. It’s meant some adjustments for sure but I am looking at it from a different perspective.
I may not be able to do Taekwondo training in the open sea anymore. However I can still get to class twice a week. Sometimes during those classes I can still spar with folk forty years my junior. I may not be able to spend a week in a tent at a festival but I can get day tickets & stay in a hotel.
My thermoregulatory system may well be shot to pieces. Which meant my plans to take my full motorbike test have been scuppered but I can still tog up well & ride pillion
So on the odd dark day when living with a rare & challenging condition gets a bit much. I think of JM & her words. They do inspire me & make me determined to live my best life.
I may not have them in a frame on the wall or embroidered on a cushion. They are not in a meme or giff or inspirational format to share on social media. However they are imprinted in my cortex & now silently underpin almost everything I do now.
So if I was ever lucky enough to meet Jillian Michaels I would really like to shake her hand & say thanks for her wise words.