You mean...I can heal too?

Hi folks, new member.

I've read many of Dr. Sarno's books, and am currently knee-deep in Steve O's book "The Great Pain Deception". For me, the TMS equivalent (if I'm saying that correctly) has been anxiety, and so much of what Dr. Sarno...and Steve for that matter....has written is just spot-on, about me.

So much so that for the first time in a long time, I'm thinking this thought: You mean...I can heal too?

Healing from many years of fear (and sometimes back and arm pain) sounded like nirvana to me, and until I really started to soak in and start to believe in TMS, I wondered if I would ever truly experience this. I just wondered if I was resigned to being someone who worries and subsequently experiences anxiety and off-and-on pain.

But, I'm resigning myself no more. Yes, I can heal too. Yes, I can break the cycle of fear. Yes, I deserve to heal and be free of generalized anxiety (and even pain!). I can accept this boogeyman of fear, and by accepting it, no longer fighting it so much, I can in the words of Claire Weekes, "float" my way to freedom.

I can heal too.

And not only that...I will heal too. I am healing.

As I get the time and inclination, I'll post my journey here. Yes, there will be good days and less-than-good-days on this journey, but ultimately, I will make it. I feel that now. I know that now.

You people are such an inspiration to me. I've read your stories for months, preferring to "lurk", and not get involved, but today, I decided to take the plunge and get involved. I don't know how often I'll get up the nerve to post, but as it feels good to post, maybe more often than I'd originally thought.

Thank you to each of you for sharing your journeys. By so doing, you are inspiring us all to keep at it. Who knows, maybe I can do the same for someone else, some day?

Onward.

 

This is helping me today-- maybe it will help you too..
"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do."
Eleanor Roosevelt

 

That's spot-on, iwire. Thanks for providing it.

Look...fear...in...the...face. I like it.

 

My next hurdle in this recovery of mine is to stop the back stretching routine which I've utilized for the past 20 years or so. I am healing, but I need to follow the good Dr. Sarno's advice, and discontinue any and all forms of therapy. I guess I should channel my inner Nike, and "just do it". Heck, I went for a nice long run this morning, and forgot to stretch beforehand (maybe subconsciously I want to stop stretching!), and felt pretty darn good afterwards. This will be a big hurdle for me, and I appreciate any of you "recovering back stretchers" to chime in on what worked for you. But...I'll get there eventually!