Learning to have pride in my achievements
Hey everybody!
So I am English and I feel as if we are as a society taught that feeling good about yourself and having pride in the things you do is a bad thing. English people love to moan and be negative about everything it is just in our nature and something that I always bought into! Negative thinking was how I communicated with myself and I had a very low opinion of myself because of it.
When I started to study Buddhism and started to realise that I cannot have good energy if I am always negative, I started to work hard to change my thinking. Counselling helped, but it really came from me to do the work of learning to think differently. It took a few years to achieve it, and yes I sometimes fall into old patterns, but now instead of looking back on my day and thinking of all the bad and wrong things I did, I try to think of the good things.
Now yesterday me and my husband along with my dad and his girlfriend went for the day to a large shopping center about an hour from where I live. We tend to go every 6 months or so and I have to be honest in the past I would let Lee talk for me, and I would spend a fortune on junk!
However, this year I am working hard on not being materialistic and on cutting down on the things in my home that do not serve me. So I did not come home with a million bags of stuff and feel good for half an hour, instead I bought a couple of make up products, a t shirt and some Lush bath products because baths really help my pain. I avoided shops like Primark where I tend to buy a lot of clothes I do not need and instead just enjoyed a lovely day out!
The first shop we went into was Debenhams because I heard they now stock Kat Von D products…but they are not getting them there for another couple of months! Instead I went to the Urban Decay stand to have a look because I love their pallets and though they are out of my price range I wanted a dream! However, I soon got chatting to the woman there who told me one of the pallets was on offer if I bought it and a lipstick I saved money and got a free gift.
Now the fact that I bought the offer, and tried on some lipstick there is not the point…the point is that 2years ago I could not even speak to someone I did not know! I would ignore people if they spoke to me or I would have a major panic attack, it was not until I had bought these things and come away did I realise how far I had come! I did all the talking, Lee just pushed me in the wheelchair, I did not panic and I chatted to her without even thinking about it.
I also managed to go into the shop Claire’s accessories, which for wheelchair users is impossible to navigate because all the stands are so close together. Lee stood outside with my chair and I went into the shop on my own, picked out what I wanted and paid all by myself! I was beaming when I came out and even now I feel so proud of myself for being able to do this.
Anxiety is overwhelming and I have it all the time about everything, the world to me is a big overwhelming and terrifying place! However, I am starting to learn to break the surface and do things like this for myself. Never give up, set goals that you can achieve that are small and work up to the big stuff and above all remember every small step is a big achievement if you suffer with chronic illness!
Namaste xxx
