Welp, I've had one of those weeks. After years of experimenting to find the right thryoid medication, skincare, hair products, nutrition plan, exercise routine, and sleep schedule, I suffered a series of set-backs recently. These manifested in the form of extreme body fatigue, hair loss, joint pain, brain fog, and emotional ups and downs.
I had forgotten what those felt like...and let me just say I really, REALLY never want to have to go through them again.
As it is with every trial or testing that comes into our life, there are lessons that can be learned. It's like learning a new battle strategy so that the next time you find yourself facing a similar opponent, you know the right kind of action to deploy.
The following three steps have more than just a physical application, but a spiritual one as well. Think you can see it? Here we go:
1) Identify the trigger...or in my case, the triggerS, since there was more than one. I didn't realize that the last month of extreme stress, a super busy schedule, a change in some personal products, less sleep, and some hormonal changes were all adding up to a potential set-back. I was so busy that not filling my thyroid prescription for three days was the straw that broke the camels back. It wasn't until after I was already experiencing the symptoms did I realize that I now had a huge problem on my hands. I also had to identify that the strong emotions I was experiencing were by-products, and to not let myself give in to the feelings that these emotions invoked.
2) Eliminate the stressors...this one seems to be easier said than done. Yes, I did get my prescription filled, and have started taking them regularly; yes, I did switch back to my regular products; but to do the things like get rid of stress or change your hormone levels are little harder to do. You can't just wake up one morning and say, "Today I'm not going to have any stress." If only it were that easy.
Instead, what I can do is look at how I'm handling the stress. Do I jump to conclusions or make rash decisions when faced with potential poblems? Do I insert myself into situations where I really have no business being in, compounding the problem rather than fixing it? Sometimes letting something play out rather than getting all fired up about it is an easy solution to a rather difficult situation.
I'm constantly reminding myself: Not everything needs my intervention or my invovlement.
It has also been important to separate work and home. I desperately needed to come home and just chill. Trust me when I say that everything will still be there tomorrow. You can get much more done when you've had some time to refocus rather than forcing yourself to keep going.
Don't get me wrong: sometimes you do have to force yourself to put one foot in front of the other. But little things like laundry, dishes, cleaning...you can catch up on a good day. First recover, then focus.
3) Rest the mind & body...there's nothing like brain fog and constant physical fatigue to drag you down. This is the type of exhaustion that settles in the joints and makes your arms and legs feel like they are weighted down. I usually find that during a flare-up that sleep is not very rejuvinating. Instead, I wake up groggy and still as tired as I was when I went to sleep.
But once I've identified the triggers and started eliminating the stressors, I need to focus on good sleep to help my body heal. I'm more relaxed once I know exactly what's causing the problem and I have a plan to move forward.
It's during these times of upheaval that I suffer not just physically but mentally as well because the two go hand in hand. It's easy to fall into the trap of getting more stressed because the triggers I identified could have been prevented had I just stayed on track. But that doesn't help in the healing; instead it only adds to stress that caused the flare-up to begin with.
You also have to realize that these are not magic remedies to get you back to normal after one application. It takes time and patience to even things out, to smooth things out, to get back on track.
Don't give up after one day! It's a process.
Are you facing your own set-back? It doesn't matter if it's physical or spiritual, failing to plan is planning to fail. So instead of setting yourself up for failure, why not simply identify the triggers, eliminate the stressors, & rest in the Lord.
Simply Overcoming Set-Backs,
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