Thriving Versus Striving – Why Language Matters

Thriving versus striving: two action words that have very different effects on my mind, body and soul. How I speak to myself and the thoughts I have before words leave my mouth, have become fundamental parts of my functionality and plays a vital part in how my world manifests. More to the point, language plays a vital part in how I manifest my world.

My understanding of healing

Through my training in several healing modalities I have become abundantly aware of how each of us has the ability to heal our own bodies, minds and hearts. While that belief may be rather radical and far reaching for some, it is my experience that it is totally possible and happens daily, even from the most extreme of illness. I trained in Reflexology, Reiki and Therapeutic Massage before I ever even considered that substance abuse was something I engaged in. Yet I knew I was unwell and dis-eased. When I got clean and sober I studied further in energy healing and began to really understand the concept behind what we feed our bodies, our minds and our souls is what creates wellness or dis-ease in our lives. Even using the word dis-ease as opposed to disease (something I learned about 20 years ago from Lousie L. Hay Books) helps me to understand the state of my body at the time of illness. I am not at ease and the knock on effect of that turmoil was, for many years, catastrophic.

Practice makes perfect

This concept further helped me when I began to seek help for my substance misuse. I understood finally that the dis-ease of my physical, mental, emotional and spiritual body was causing me to seek refuge in chemicals, food, relationships and exercise. Even the compulsion to buy shoes was providing me with some momentary relief from the turmoil within my being. My list of addictions and unhealthy behaviors was long and touched every part of my life. It baffles me and many others, that with such extensive training behind me and quite a bit of knowledge about how to be well, I still managed to find myself in rehab and mental institutions. The simple answer to that is, knowledge and training is only effective when it’s practiced and trusted. We also have to feel worthy of health and happiness yet I did not feel worthy of anything close to either of those. I trusted nothing and nobody; another symptom of my dis-eased being, and a defense mechanism I’d picked up throughout my life.

No going back

I have this friend; let’s call him Damien (because that is his actual name), who teaches a method of healing that is super simple and productive. Yet for many this simplicity is preposterous and goes against everything that we have been told. He has compounded my earlier learning about how we think and talk to ourselves and brought me to an even deeper level of understanding and awe at the power of the human psyche. On several occasions, he has pulled me up on the things I think about myself. Having a friend like Damien is akin to being in recovery from alcoholism for several years, going back out and then trying to really enjoy drinking again. You can never again convince yourself that consuming stuff that’s bad for every part of you is a good, enjoyable idea!

SSSStrive

And so I got to thinking about how I now go about my daily living and the concept behind thriving and striving . I began to ponder the words and their relevance to me. Here’s what I came up with.

I’m not a big fan of the word strive. For me it conjures up images of struggle and heaviness. I see myself exhausted and not allowing myself the ease and freedom to progress naturally and in stages. I’m pushing against huge obstacles, often pushing in the wrong direction, towards things I think I want and beyond anything that is good or natural for me. The vision of myself holding my breath, my body full of tension, and my mind ready to explode is palpable. I must get to where I think I want to be by tomorrow. Reaching my destination exhausted, only to discover that where I got to doesn’t actually interest me at all, is devestating. Even as I say the word, the sharpness of the S sound makes my eyes narrow with discomfort and creates a feeling of dread in my chest. It’s a hard and unforgiving word to me. Brutally competitive and ruthless.

Tttthriving

The word thriving is much more pleasing to my sensibilities. It’s such a beautifully light word and as it passes through my lips, I can almost feel myself lift up into the clouds. My breath becomes deep and effortless, and there is a natural flow and energy that supports me fully. I can relax into it. I can trust itand feel myself in a state of ease and comfort regardless of what situation I am facing. I’m energized yet calm and productive and feel like I am worthy and enough. I want to jump higher and higher and share this blissful feeling I experience with everyone around me.

And so to me thriving as opposed to striving is a change of language and perception. It is completely flipping the coin on societal expectation and looking at things from a much simpler, lighter and nurturing aspect. It is in its basic, most authentic state – just being who you are without apology. And not the manufactured you – but the real, ‘one and only’ YOU!

Who am I again?

The idea of me really becoming who I am was a frightening concept. I had to open my mind to other unconventional possibilities and take responsibility for my own healing, to get to the point I’m at now. I had to be unafraid of the consequences, both good and bad. Let’s face it, I’d been through a large proportion of the bad, so another sucker punch to the torso didn’t phase me. But what did frighten me, was being well and whole. How do you function as that version of yourself? Could I actually maintain that lifestyle, and what if I got a taste of it and then realized that really I’m not a thriver but the bottom of the barrel wannabe? For many years, in my mind, thriving was for other people somewhere else.

Self trust

I had to learn to trust myself and deprogram from what I thought I knew about my body, my mind and my soul. That process brought me to living outside of my comfort zone most of the time which was challenging but also appealed to the thrill seeker in me. It also made and still does make some people around me uncomfortable (which brings me great delight at times because I’m still 14 at heart). But being planted in your own truth is the most thrilling, fulfilling and empowering thing you can imagine. It caused me to question everything I had ever read or heard or thought. The aim of my recovery was to create a life I didn’t need or want to escape from. I understood that life brings challenges at times, but I just wanted the strength and ability to deal with those challenges effectively. Actually I wanted to be able to deal with any situation brilliantly – or my version of brilliantly (I’m an all or nothing kinda gal).

The F word is necessary

So I set about cleaning up my thoughts and my words and the corresponding results and emotions that followed were pretty amazing. When I altered my thought patterns I changed my whole life. I became worthy, and useful and beautiful. Now I am  fierce and independent and grateful. I’m a survivor, a doer and a giver. And not in anyone else’s eyes – but in my own. The only eyes that matter.

Don’t get me wrong, I still swear like a sailor – a whole ship full of sailors actually. I’m not sure life would be worth living without the ‘F’ word. I can also still cut you in two with just a few words when I’m being less than goddess like perfect. Getting dressed in the morning and looking at myself in the mirror I catch myself thinking life would be better without this c-section scar or if my butt was half the size. But I can tolerate myself even when I slip up. After all habits and conditioning of a lifetime can take time to break – but I’m breaking them one at a time and I’m thriving – because I like that word better!