Little Engine: I Think I Can
I’ve really been pushing myself today as I woke up feeling tired. Doing my new Pilates routine energized me. With Myasthenia Gravis (MG, my neuromuscular autoimmune disease), it can be hard to keep going when I don’t feel like it. I’ve met many amazing people with Lupus, Muscular Dystrophy, MS, and Fibromyalgia who do it everyday. In addition to MG, I also live with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and Bipolar Disorder. I believe that we need to speak truth to the lies that pain (emotional or physical) brings. Affirmations are powerful; they inspire us to keep going. This brings me to today’s WEGO question as I continue blogging for National Health Blog Post Month:
Write 3 lines that start with “I think I can…”
Then write 3 lines that start with “I know I can…”
MY ANSWER:
I Know I Can…
1. I know I can keep going no matter what happens today.
2. I know God is with me.
3. I know I have people I can count on if I get lonely.
I Think I Can…
1. I think I can exercise today; excited to do new Pilates routine.
2. I think I can finish an article for my blog, Fashionably ill, today.
3. I think I can find a way to laugh today no matter how I feel.
I don’t do affirmations everyday. But, over the past decade, I have learned that knowing truths and speaking them back to myself (not necessarily aloud) has been powerful in pushing back despair–whether that comes from depression or PCOS pain or autoimmune fatigue. Even for patients without diagnosed mental illness, chronic physical pain and fatigue can cause crippling depression. While other tools are great (therapy, friends, family), we need internal tools to survive. That’s what affirmations are–encouragement we find within ourselves based on past experience and our values. In my case, for example, faith and exercise are an integral part of my identity and survival.
How can you encourage yourself? Do you use affirmations? Stay tuned as I continue blogging for WEGO’s Challenge.
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–Your Stylist,
Jessica Gimeno
