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Brain kicks

I think we underestimate every little bit about our bodies and how they work.

 I've had a rather sad day today; our four year old guinea pig, Dusty, passed away suddenly this morning at the place she was staying whilst we were away. It was a shock and horrible news to have wake you up. Two years ago we lost Bubbles, another of our guinea pigs. The difference in my reaction was huge - I'm sad and heartbroken... but in a different way. It's like my body has blocked that hurt and sadness from the functional part of my brain and I'm wanting to do things and keep busy, rather than sitting numbly for hours on end. Well, I want to do that... but I'm not letting myself - I'm able to not let myself.

 I believe this is because since that ordeal in 2010, I have undergone a number of things. I've been prodded and poked, I've faced a relationship that I was terrified of going into, I've suffered a break up that broke my heart, I've worked that relationship out and now things are okay - we're friends, I've been sent to hospital for five hours and had a blood test, I've had an MRI scan with a near 40 degree temperature... I'm not saying these things for pity - I'm saying that my body has built this 'coping' mechanism which I didn't have before.

 What's more, I was walking the dog this evening and just thinking about stuff and a quote came into my head from nowhere. Perhaps my brain realised I needed it, somehow...
It was a quote from my childhood that I bet you'll know: "There is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." I think it was the stronger than you seem thing that decided to float into my mind. It made me realise that we are, all of us, much stronger than we think. We can cope with the seemingly un-copable. 

 As (not Kelly Clarkson but) Aristotle said "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger". I stand by that. I think things seem horrific and terrible and awful when you're experiencing them, but you look back and think "I can cope with that now. I know I can do it." It's kind of the 'if at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again' approach - experiencing rather unagreeable things can make us stronger people... I don't mean that in terms of 'you must suffer to be strong! You must be miserable to be happy!' I mean it in terms of 'sometimes bad things happen. It sucks. But sometimes when that that thing happens again, we can cope with it better.' 

 So remember: you're braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think.

Comments

  1. Ruth11 August 2012 at 17:08

    Make sure you do stay strong :) This gives me a little more confidence for Thursday, thank you Claire, looking forward to seeing you :) x

    ReplyDelete

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