At age 19, I was in Paramedic School two hours away from home. I drove early Monday mornings to be there by 8am and returned on Friday nights.
Weekends were a 48-hour shift as an EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) on one of the busiest ambulances in the city, sometimes running 15-20 calls on a 24-hour period.
I LOVED it! 💖
On school nights, a couple times per week, I worked on an ambulance or at a fire station as part of my training.
That could easily result in little or no sleep before school started in the morning for another 9 or 10 hour day.
To say it was stressful would be an understatement, but it was my dream, my passion, my purpose... It was my happy place.
Friend, have you ever loved something (or someone) so much you didn't realize how much it was stressing you out?
When a gastrointestinal surgeon presented a lecture to my class, I told her about a burning I felt in my stomach. She said it sounded like the beginning of an ulcer...
An ulcer! Like people get who worry all the time and can't handle their life?
My judgy, self-imposed stigma hurt worse than the burning in my stomach!
Her words simmered inside me the rest of the afternoon until they started boiling.
I knew if I had created an ulcer, I could heal it. But I'd have to stop triggering it with stress even though it would be impossible to be completely free of stress.
So, after school I reprogrammed my subconscious mind to respond to stress with a visible alert instead of growing something bad inside my body that I couldn't see.
The burning stopped within a few minutes and the palms of my hands began to itch.
My stress-alert had switched from a growing ulcer to hives.
A couple days later, after feeling embarrassed when classmates asked what was wrong with my red, itchy hands, I revised my programming to have the hives show up where only I could see them.
Within a few hours, they moved to my tummy, beneath my shirt.
The burning has never returned and I still get a hive as a signal to manage the frustration, anxiety, fear or anger that caused stress.
Here's a visual of how these changes can be made.
If you picture an iceberg, we live on the tip. We're not realizing all the power we have beneath the surface.
But underneath is the subconscious mind (our inner power).
This is where adjustments to our habits, beliefs, mental health, emotional well-being, and physical body can be made quickly.
Too much time living on the tip (talking about problems, ignoring stress, staying in toxic relationships) causes the iceberg to become a volcano that's ready to erupt.
Eruptions take the form of disconnected relationships, health problems, a body you don't like, depression, anxiety, and uncertainty about your future.
You're too important to live on the tip, Friend.
You can check out client success stories HERE. And you'll see where if you want to talk, you can schedule a call with me.
You ROCK! 💥
Kelly
