I want to start by telling a story. When I was a little girl, my mum said to me that if I swallowed chewing gum, my intestines would stick together, and I would die.
One day, I went to the cinema, and I swallowed chewing gum by accident while watching the movie. I started crying. I cried for five hours till I lost my voice for a few hours. I never told anyone what happened. I was that scared and terrified that I was going to die. Years later, my mum asked, “Do you remember that time when you were in the cinema, and we had to leave because you couldn’t stop screaming?”. I told her what truly happened in my head. If I said why I was crying by then, my mum would calm me down and we would continue to watch the movie, but I never did.
I said that because we often believe that something is accurate, and we see the situation in the most dramatic way. But the truth is that if we share our views or our fears and our beliefs, other people may perceive that differently, and to be honest – the solution may be just by the corner.
That is the truth for the eating disorder. For many years, I thought that ED was defining who I was, that I would never recover, and that I would be stuck in this nightmare. It came to me when I did my research and started talking, joined a community with similar problems, found people who managed to recover and told their stories. It happened when I let go of my fears and did something different, trusted the people who did it and followed their advice.
“Get rid of negative people who bring you down. Surround yourself with people who lift you up, lend you the knowledge and help you learn from your mistakes.”
“Whatever you do in life, surround yourself with smart people who’ll argue with you.” – John Wooden
“People inspire you, or they drain you – pick them wisely.” – Hans F. Hansen.
“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.” – Mark Twain.
The secret to recovering is to want to recover. If you’re going to recover, you are already recovering. If you dislike Eating Disorder and want to heal – you will. There is no single doubt about it. Please don’t doubt your possibilities. When I fell in an avalanche, I broke my sacrum bone and still climbed 150 meters on ice and turf. How did I do it without goggles, gloves and with a broken bone, bleeding head and torn knee ligament?
Our mind and body can do wonders. Trust your body and mind, let it go and go deep into yourself. Let go of all the beliefs that stop you from trusting yourself. The solution, the healing power, the peace and balance is already in you. The only thing that prevents you from seeing it are false beliefs, society’s judgement and lost self-confidence.
Surround yourself with positive people. Quite often we want to disappear and isolate ourselves. We may feel like the world is against us. But it’s not. The fact that someone is judgmental is only a sign that that person judges. If we see people who are arrogant, who criticise – it is because of their own insecurities. The best way not to let anyone bring you down is to not take personally the things those people say. If you build up your self-esteem – you will feel more secure and safe.
Bringing our core beliefs to the surface means writing them down and following the path we choose. Not the eating disorder path. That is not the way. The right way is just in front of you. Take the step.
Love and light
Catherine
The power of our mind 