I speak in this blog about how, in my past, I got to a place where I felt no hope, and I did not want to go on. This is something I take very seriously. I was not actively suicidal (meaning I was not thinking of ways to actually hurt myself), but if you are, please call the suicide hotline 1-800-273-8255 or 911. Also please talk to a mental health professional.
There is something so hopeful about seeing green things growing out of the dead brown this time of year. If I cold give hope a color, it would be green. If I could give it a season, it would be Spring.
About 10 years ago, I was in a very hopeless place. This is something I have never shared before. I had developed a form of body dysmorphia. Most people know body dysmorphia as something that people with eating disorders develop. It is when a very skinny person will look in the mirror and actually see an overweight person. This is not the only kind of body dysmorphia there is though, and this is not the kind I had. I will not get into it here, but we will just say, I would basically look in the mirror and see something that was not there. It was an obsession. Anyone who has struggled with this also knows that you get to a point where you would rather the thing you are obsessing about actually be real than deal with one more day of the thoughts that are going through your head.
That is where I was. I was at a point where I did not want to go on. I had lost hope.
(It is very interesting, because now I consider my job to be helping people find hope.)
That spring, my mom bought me flowers to go on my condo balcony. I will never forget it. I watered those flowers and watched them grow. Watching those flowers grow out of the dead and dark winter awoke something inside my body, including my brain. I realized that if new stuff can grow in the spring, I can grow into something new as well. I can grow new thoughts. I can even grow a new body (We do every 7 years without trying). I can even grow new pathways in my brain. Peace and joy can grow out of the dark hole that obsession and depression leave in our hearts.
Watch the video, or just keep reading below!
I am not trying to oversimplify depression and anxiety. But I do want to simplify them. Remember the spiritual solution is always simple. This world makes everything so complicated.
I am inviting you to work with nature and cultivate hope this time of year. Ask yourself what thoughts do you have that feel very hopeful? How can you build on those thoughts? What kind of thoughts are you having that are making your feel hopeless?
Anytime we think in a way where we are thinking of solutions, that is a hopeful way of living. If we focus more on the problems, that is a hopeless way of living.
Our human brain wants to think of things in all-or-nothing form.
“She always does this.”
“All people are bad.”
“It’s always like this.”
“It’s never going to get better.”
Always, never, all, nothing, pay attention if you use those words. It is something our human brain wants to natural do, categorize everything. But in reality, shades of grey exist.
An example of how to change this around is, “Yes, that one person did act in a mean way, but that does not mean all people are mean.”
When I got more involved in holistic health and healing, for example, I had hope that other solutions to my health problems exists!
When you look for solutions, there is hope. And solutions are waiting to be found.
There is always hope. Hope is never lost. There are always options. As Marie Forleo says, “Everything is figureoutable.”
I hope you are not in the place where I was, where I was feeling so hopeless that I was not wanting to go on. If you are though, that is okay. There are solutions to that too. (Please call the suicide hotline 1-800-273-8255 if you are in danger or tell a mental health professional).
If you are not feeling completely hopeless, but an inkling of hopelessness has creeped in here and there, that is okay too. That means you are human. I get it. I hear you.
No matter where you are in your human journey, you can find hope right now. Look for new things popping out of the ground. Know that you can find new thoughts and create a new future.
Even if you are looking at an end of life journey at the moment, there is hope. In the spiritual community, we believe that this body is not who we ultimately are. We take it off like a suit of clothes when we do not need it anymore. And that is a beautiful thing.
If we get too attached to this world, like I did in the midst of body dysmorphia, we freak out. Pick a lighter, more spiritual solution. Get solution oriented to everything in your life. Make solutions enormous in your brain. Problems can touch you not. Even death can touch you not.
And when you know this, deep in your soul, nothing is stopping you. You are free to create the life you want. You are free to use this spring energy to go beyond the limits you have placed on yourself. What would you do if you thought big? What is possible for your life if you really got behind this idea of feeling hopeful and ran with it? What do you really want? How can you make it happen?
Please contact me at elizabeth@yourhighestlight.com for coaching if you are interested in creating hope, peace, and a more beautiful life. If you are ready for a new way of thinking and living, let’s do it! I can’t wait to hear from you!
Please post pictures of green things coming out of the ground and tag me on social media! Or post below!
Wishing you peace, love, and overwhelming hope this spring! Fly with it! See where it takes you! Sending all good things your way!
Elizabeth
www.yourhighestlight.com
