THE IMPORTANCE OF PERSPECTIVE & HATCHING CONTINGENCY PLANS

claireabrahams
Apr 12, 2017
3 min read

Mummy, wouldn’t it be awful if your egg got on fire & a big red light & steam was everywhere like a humungous volcano & it burnt & knocked down the whole house, and Matilda (the cat) would have to live somewhere else. I couldn’t give her treats …

And ……..& what if it got all foggy & my toys all broke and got dirty and all poo’ey….that could be all really REALLY bad couldn’t it mummy?

Mmmm, Yes darling it would be really really bad…….

(a few seconds later)

Mummy, it’ll be ok…..

….how’s that darling?

....you can always make another egg ……

It’s amazing what you can mull over at the breakfast table….

Take a moment to be MINDFUL of your perspective

Here I was thinking that it was erupting volcanoes and the house falling down that was 'really really' bad…..& yes to ‘little G’ it was bad, and a great worry and a big fear…..but he was relating all his personal worries and fears to what he had assumed to be the biggest threat of the moment….mummy not getting her egg in the morning…..

When you are suffering from chronic fatigue, or indeed, any type of chronic illness we should take care to remember that PERSPECTIVE is everything…. When we step away & observe our feelings & emotions & become MINDFULLY AWARE OF OUR THOUGHTS, especially the negative ones, it can help us out gain perspective when we’re hit with an unexpected punch line

Minimise the WHAT IF’s & make contingency plans instead

So WHAT IF… the house collapsed all around you, burnt down in a cloud of molten lava, or if you broke, got all foggy & poo’ey….?

When you have a chronic illness that is widely misunderstood it is only natural to ask questions…What if it hadn’t happened? What if I’d not done that, what if I had said that….what if I do that or take that, what if I’d had porridge instead?

Would have, could have, should have…..I tell you what…..What if……YOU GIVE UP THE WHAT IF’s?....yes I know, easier said than done, but honestly; is this endless conjecture really benefitting you in any way?

Our greatest fears, worries are always focused on all the things that we personally value the very most in life. Problems & worries have an amazing knack of growing & escalating all by themselves, spiralling into bigger and bigger ones - often completely unrelated to the first initial thought. But the thing is this is how we are hard wired – the fight or flight process is always on, always playing out the very worst case scenario no matter how ridiculous or unlikely it may be…..so no more what if’s….it’s not helping you in any way….it’s just focusing the pain at a crappy perspective…

M.E. Chronic Fatigue IS really crap but you know what…… it’s here with us….so let’s deal with the situation and hatch a contingency plan ….note to self, make sure I’ve got plenty of eggs ……& maybe some Weetabix as a back up too

Remember that it’ll all be OK….

Everything you DO is ‘work-out-able’.... boil another egg or replace it with something better

Remember, that humanity, generosity and love is all around you

Happy Easter all……