Embracing Pacing;
Transforming Passion into Sustainable Success
We dove deep in this great conversation! I talked a bit about running a business while managing a chronic illness and how surrendering to my illness (instead of fighting it) enabled me to heal.
Here’s the mindset behind that. With Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, the more you fight your illness the sicker you get. It’s not an illness you fight. It’s an illness you surrender to!
What does that really mean? I feel how I feel today. Pretending that I have energy that I don’t will only make me have even less energy tomorrow. AND surrendering to my illness – which really just means being honest with myself about where I am in my healing journey today – does not predict the future.
I can prioritize pacing, resting, listening to my body with where I’m at today – and it doesn’t mean that I’ll be where I currently am, tomorrow.
Prioritizing my health. Putting it first. No matter what else is going on. Has taken me from bedridden to about 70% functional. Do I have bad days still? Yes. Do I have symptoms still? Yes, every day. And when I think about where I was in the first 3 years of my illness – some days being unable to move at all – even clicking the TV remote was difficult – I’ve come a really long way. And it’s because I’ve prioritized my health and surrendered to my illness.
But lest you think we only talked about that, oh no! We talked about business, and creativity and structure and systems and so much more!
Yvonne highlighted a quote from me – and I love that she did that!
“One small change at a time…if you try to change too much too fast, you will rebel against it or things will happen that throw you off and you will revert to your default. So one small change.”
