I wasn’t always grateful!

15 years ago I would not have understood that quote.  I won’t have know who Louise Hay was.  I won’t have read the book – You Can Heal Your Life!

More importantly, I had no idea about the powerful connection between the mind & the body!

But all that has changed when my daughter recuperated from her 7 year bout with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

At the age of 14 she woke up one morning with extreme fatigue and dizziness.  She came out of her bedroom – leaning against the wall with her head down and in a very weak voice, said Mom I think I need to stay home today – I feel like a mac truck ran over me – I’m exhausted and dizzy.

Sure I said…. She was a great student; she would catch up.

Of course, she was tired, I told myself – she was on the basketball team, the soccer team, she was an A student; she was in girl guides and on the leadership team.  She deserved a day of rest so I told her to stay home from school.  What’s one day?

But that one day of rest turned into days in bed.  Then weeks, months and finally years.  7 long years!!!

7 long years of her supposed lively and rebellious teenage years slipped by with out her involvement.  There were no arguments with mom for being on the phone too long or staying out too late!  There were no boyfriends; no school dances; no shopping with girl friends.  In fact, there were no friends at all.  There was little to no school.

From the age of 14 to 21 – she spent most of her time either going to doctors or staying in bed!

She had NO energy to read even a short paragraph and remember what it said.  She Saved up her energy to have a shower.  She took most of her meals in bed.  In fact, we finally had to move her bedroom down to the first floor because she couldn’t climb the stairs without pulling herself up by the bannister.  Dinner time meant that she spent much of it with her head on the table.

And there were medical appointments — pediatritians to naturopathic doctors; to reiki specialists; and many others.  She was seen by the children’s hospital; heart specialists, etc. – none of the treatments worked.  Apparently nothing was going to work.

It was heart wrenching to watch a once very active young woman unable to do the things that she loved!  At the time, it seemed horrible – for everyone in our family – my husband, son, grandparents – everyone worried that this would be the way the rest of her life would be.  In fact, my husband and I changed our wills to include a guardian for her and we purchased HUGE life insurance policies to take care of her once we died.

But as a mother, I became relentless in my search for something that would help my daughter.

My first step was to join a small support group of mothers whose children also had the same illness as my daughter … I can tell you that we clung to each other ; each of us sharing our frustrations.  We would meet once a month in the dark corner of a restaurant and share our stories of the previous month – what we had tried; what worked; what didn’t.  We would also spend a lot of time crying!

At one of our meetings, one of the mothers found ‘something’ on the internet that she was going to try.  Karen actually had 2 children with Chronic Fatigue.  She told us that she would soon be taking her daughter to this training course in England.  What did she have to lose?

When Karen & her daughter came home from England there was remarkable changes including that her daughter went back to school.  We sat up and took notice.

My daughter was anxious to hear more about the program and within a few short weeks, we were on our way to England.  When we left the Montreal airport that November she was so weak that she was in a wheel chair as we went thru the airport.

Less than 2 weeks later, she came home pulling her own luggage.  By January, she was travelling on her own to Banff and skiing.  By spring she was admitted to university full time!!!

BUT what made my daughter well again – wasn’t a magic pill or fancy medical treatment! NOTHING worked during those 7 years.

What did work was a proven process – mind-body connection.  It was a combination of NLP, self hypnosis, and other mind/body techniques.  This process has cured Olympic athletes and thousands around the world.

The big aha was that we had no idea our daughter was thinking negative thoughts.  But it became clear during the 1st day of this training in England.

Just before leaving for lunch on the first day, the trainer summarized by saying that the participants had become experts at doing unhealthy; but now they were becoming experts at doing healthy. Remembering the words of the trainer that SHE WAS HEALTHY and my daughter ordered hot chocolate.   (Previously she had been lactose intolerant )

She was so excited when the hot chocolate came.  She was sitting up straight and her eyes bright & smiling.  She took a sip and loved it.

I thought all was good so I turned and started chatting with my husband.

When I looked back at my daughter – her whole appearance changed – she was slumped in the chair, eyes glazed over.

I asked her what she was thinking.  She said – mom for 7 years this hot chocolate/milk had made me sick – why do you think that it won’t today?

I thought – good question.

But remembering what her trainer had said and taught her.  I said… what are you supposed to do when you have negative thoughts?  She said, I’m supposed to do my LP (4 step process – like a square dance in the early stages).

She said but I’m in a pub.

I asked — Is there anyone here who knows you?  Anyone you’ll see again?

She stood up and did her LP.  Then sat down and drank all of her hot chocolate without a problem.

It worked for hot chocolate; and it continued to work till she became totally well again.  As they say- the rest is history!

She had to become aware of her negative thoughts and then change them!!!

Whether this was negative thoughts about what she could or should eat; about facing her friends; about school exams; about ever playing soccer again …. Whatever it was – I saw my beloved healthy daughter reappear!

It took hard work and commitment on her part but the results certainly were worth the effort.  Today my daughter has finished her Master Degree; worked successfully; and is currently living in Australia with the man of her dreams.

I learned first hand that our minds are the most powerful tool that we have!  You can change your life by changing your thoughts!

Close with another quote from Louise Hay…….