Fake surgery, old thoughts, and moving upward in 2021

“Getting older is tough.”

This isn’t a fact.

It may sound like a fact, but it’s actually just a thought.

And I’ve had that thought many times.

Lately I’ve been catching myself having this kind of thought.

It doesn’t feel good to think it.

In fact it feels heavy, and more than a little scary.

It makes me resistant to aging.

And being resistant to aging doesn’t help, because, like it or not, I’m getting older.

So, what if I changed the thought to something like “getting older feels good”?

At first my brain thinks it’s a lie.

Because for so long I’ve had the thought “getting older is tough.”

But really, it’s no more a lie than “getting older is tough.”

It’s just a new and different thought.

And it happens to be a thought that feels much better in my body.

So where am I going with this?

Well, right now, at age 48, I’m fortunate to have a body that can take me pretty much anywhere my mind and spirit want to go.

There’s still so much I have yet to do and see, to create and enjoy, and to experience and discover.  

There’s still so much life I have to live!

But I believe that if I let thoughts of “getting older is tough” take over my brain, then life will begin to feel harder, heavier, and I may even stop doing the things that make me feel good.

Do you think this is true?

I’ll let you decide.

I’ll start with a study I came across in Bruce Lipton’s book,“The Biology of Belief”.

He tells of a study investigating the placebo effect in surgery.

It was done by the Baylor School of Medecine, and published in 2002 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Basically, the study was to investigate if knee surgery actually helped in reducing knee pain in patients with severe arthritic knees.

A group of candidates for knee surgery were dividied into three.

Two of the groups got actual knee surgery, using two different procedures.

The third group, however, got “fake” surgery, where the patient was sedated, the doctors made an incision, but no work was actually performed.

The patients, of course, didn’t know which group they were in.

And the results were enlightening.

Those who had the “fake” surgery experienced just as much improvement as the other two groups!

This result is amazing.

And proof that our minds, our thoughts, have an enormous effect on our bodies and our lives.

Another situation is one that a client of mine experienced.

She was having trouble losing any weight, despite eating better and exercising more.

And she was frustrated.

As I coached her, we realized that although on the outside she appeared to be doing things right, on the inside she had the thought, “It doesn’t matter what I do, nothing works.”

This thought had been there through years of trying different diets, cleanses, workouts, and so on.

But she didn’t see it, until it came out in a coaching session.

It was an “a-ha moment” for her.

She saw that although whe wanted to lose weight so badly, her mind was stopping her from having it.

Her thought “it doesn’t matter what I do, nothing works,” actually led her to sabotage her efforts.

She began to see the reality of what she was doing.

She noticed that although she was eating better, she was also eating more, and rewarding herself with food; and although she was exercising, she wasn’t consistent, and would skip doing anything for days at a time.

Once she became aware of the thought, she started to change.

The self-sabotage went way down, and she finally began to feel good in her body.

And she felt lighter in her mind without the heavy thought.

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So, all this said, if I had to pick just one thing that can make aging easier, get you healthier, reduce belly fat, and achieve lasting weight loss…

It would be: Work on your thinking.

You know what I mean…

“I’m never going to be fit, it’s just not in my genes”, “I’m hopeless”, “I’m so disgusting”, “I’ll never be able to do that”, “I know I’m going to have diabetes, just like my dad,”…

These thoughts are holding you back.

You may think that your negative thoughts will motivate you to move forward, but they really don’t work that way.

Instead of attracting what you’ll want, you’ll be resisting it.

And yes, although it can sound a little woo-woo, there is a universal law of attraction (maybe you’ve read “The Secret,”) and it’s alive and well.

And that’s why I’m also working on my thinking this year.

I’ve joined a coaching program with my coach, Cheryl, so I can “Think Into Results” (that’s the name of the program.)

I know that thoughts alone can’t change my reality, but I also know that having the right thoughts will lead me to the right actions.

So how can you change your thoughts and move forward?

Well, the first thing is to become aware of what you’re mind is doing.

Some of your thoughts may be so old, and running on a continuous loop, that you may not be aware of them.

And you can’t fix what you can’t see, right?

So, the best way of seeing your thoughts are journaling, meditation, and coaching.

Writing in a journal, sitting in quiet meditation, and getting coached by someone who is deeply listening, can all help you see your thoughts more clearly.

It’s important, though, that you go into these practices without self-judgment and with lots of self-compassion.

We have negative thoughts, and it’s nothing to be ashamed of.

It doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with us.

You, like me, are here to learn from this very human experience.

And at least half of our human experience is negative.

Which is actually good news, because flowers grow best when planted in s*#@t.

Once you get on board with this reality, there will be no stopping you.

The sky won’t even be a limit.

Keep moving onward and upward.

Debbie

P.S. If you’re curious about coaching, and you’re ready for a change, you can book a free, no-strings-attached, session with me right here: www.momentum-fit.ca/book-a-session

P.P.S.  Belly Fit Yoga starts this Thursday! Here’s the link for more details and to join us: https://debbie-harbec.lpages.co/belly-fit-yoga-winter-2021