Who Am I?
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Keys to Success
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Do You Have These Two Ingredients?
My people, My “Why”
Chicago Family: My roots and the people who believe in me
You need People and you need a positive mindset!
It’s that simple…
OK, maybe it’s not simple but the solution to getting the most out of life usually comes from these two things and you can make the changes for yourself, not having to rely on anyone or anything outside of yourself. Start NOW!
I have always stated that every journey is uniques in this life.
I also tell you that what works for one person doesn’t mean. it’ll work for you.
I also have stated MANY times that there is no “normal” in the amputee journey, just like life, we all experience it differently.
However, if you surround yourself with the right people AND you change your mindset then you have a much better chance of finding success as an amputee.
We sometimes get stuck hanging with the same people because we are inherently creatures of habit and loyal, but what if that person in your life is taking you down with their words, or lack of positivity? What if the person you call friend finds it hard to watch you succeed, therefore they tell you “You can’t do it.”, or “You’ll never walk again, don’t do it.”? Why is it that we stay in those relationships?
Don’t you deserve more? I think you do.
And your mindset and these types of people might actually go hand ion hand, meaning, if you are someone who sees there negative in situations, more often than not, you attract those kind of people. There are people who love to be the positive one in a relationship, doing great things and being better than you, looking better than you, having more success than you. They sense your weakness and to lift themselves up they befriend you.
YOU DON’T NEED THAT!
You deserve more.
You are an amazing person who deserve to be surrounded by genuine people who truly want to see you succeed, and know that when you’re hurting how to get you back up on the saddle. Sometimes with tough love, if you need that, and other times a shoulder to cry one.
Know your people and know you deserve the best.
When you support those around you like you’d like to be supported then you’ll find “your” people.
Mindset plays a HUGE part in this.
Your success, or failure, is determined by your thoughts.
You’ve heard the saying: “Whether you think you can, or can’t, you are right.” Henry Ford is said to have coined that phrase, which highlights the power of mindset and self-belief, that your attitude towards your task at hand determines your success at that task.
No truer words have been spoken!
Take heart if you re struggling right now because your support system and your mindset, your can change today, no need to wait, this is all about you.
This week you have 2 simple tasks:
One, take stock in who you are surrounding yourself with, and if you feel like your ideas and their ideas aren’t matching up to what you see yourself doing then you need to talk with them and get on the same page. State your goals, your dreams, your aspirations. If they care about you then they will help you get there. If you find your friends aren’t behind you, cheering you on, wanting to see you succeed, then it’s time to rethink who your true friends are.
Make note of who has been there for you through the good and the bad, draw them closer and make sure you reciprocate that support. They need it too.
Next, time to do some spring cleaning on your mind. Who do you talk to yourself and others about your circumstance, you life, your decision to amputate, your health, your abilities? If they aren’t positive and aspiring… GET RID OF THEM!
Start feeding your mind with good thoughts, goals, dreaming, positive imagery, etc.
And do this multiple times a day until it becomes who you are without even thinking about it.
You can do this and you WILL find success!
I believe in you, so you should believe in yourself.
You were made to be a warrior, now get out there and do warrior sh*t!
Have a blessed week,
And as always,
Be Healthy,
Be Happy,
Be YOU!!!
Much love,
A Leg Up On Life
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Dealing With Negative Emotions Post-Amputation
Anger, Guilt, Shame, and Fear are all such destructive emotions. They hold us back from realizing our full potential and no one is immune to feeling them at one time or another.
As amputees, we face unique challenges, including fears about our new life, future uncertainty, failures, prosthetics, and adapting to physical limitations.
As a wife and homeschooling mom amputee I often struggled with guilt. I was always worried about making mistakes and inadequacy.
Now, as an amputee, (and I ELECTED this), I was even more fearful of what might be my shortcomings.
This is a lot of pressure to put on myself. How about you? Are you adding this stress into your life?
All in all, any of those above mentioned emotions, are taking away your happiness and also adding a negative aspect to your life, one that is stress-inducing and impeding success.
Stress can harm our health, impeding healing and progress. We must recognize and tame these self-destructive emotions if we are to truly love ourselves, love our life and live it fully.
Enjoy the good days. Remember those feelings. Harness them and utilize them when you are struggling.
We must realize what we are doing to ourselves and how to tame that monster that is self-destructive in nature.
So what can you do when these emotions begin to rear their ugly heads in your mind and life?
First thing;
Stop beating yourself up over situations you cannot control. You cannot control infections, poor fitting sockets, blister and rashes, or phantom pains.
Next, you need to communicate with your family and support system about how you are feeling. and when you’re feeling like you are getting everyone down. They need to know where you are at during the harder times as you navigate being an amputee because they probably don’t have any other experience with amputees than YOU. Help them understand how you see yourself, where you want to be and what’s currently holding you back from realizing your potential. More than likely they wouldn’t want you to be worrying about that, just about getting better and stronger.
Finally, use positive self-talk. Your brain is a powerful muscle and it will bend and move to what thoughts you are allowing it to feed off of. If you tell yourself you aren’t good enough, that you aren’t contributing, or you are letting down those around you, then that is what you will feel is true. BIG TIME STRESSOR!
Time to start forgiving yourself, forgiving those around you that have hurt you, breaking free from fears, and letting go of guilt. When you are sick and laid up, your first priority must be to get stronger and healthier so you CAN get back to your life and family.
You can do this, you are strong enough. This is a long journey, a marathon, not a sprint. You will find that when things are going well something will come along and take you back a step or two. Likewise, when you are struggling, I can promise you, it won’t last and soon everything will start working out for the positive.
Don’t distress, dear Warriors, this too shall pass.
Lift up your chin, put a smile on your face, and laugh despite your struggles.
The time is now to sharpen your mental sword and fight for what you want and how you want to live your life.
Don’t give up and don’t lose hope.
Make today a great day,
And as always,
Be Healthy,
Be Happy,
Be YOU!!!
Much love,
Overcoming Fear Part 2
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Fear of Failure
A big fear of mine has always been failing, especially in front of a lot of people. How about you?
After becoming an amputee this became the daily fear that would well up inside of me. Every day I put on my leg I had to deal with idea that, as I was learning to walk in it, I just my wipe out. Then after I got good at walking, I added in the fear of falling with a running blade on, which would make for a more epic fall.
It feels like the normal, everyday, things were now causing my anxiety.
I realized right away that I would have 2 choices:
Stay home, pout, and not get out and work on my new life
or
Get out, try everything, fail, pick myself back up and try again.
On the edge of the Grand Canyon!
Me and my bees
My new Swell Surf foot, ready for the waves of Kauai
My 1st time wadding in a rushing stream, keeping balance, and trying fly fishing! A whole lotta new!
As you probably guessed, I opted for the second choice! Get out and LIVE!
This took time, patience, humility, and drive.
It wasn’t easy going into a grocery store with a new leg, knowing people were watching, almost waiting for me to stumble. At least that’s how it felt at first. But I had a family to feed and a husband at work all day. I was not going to be a burden and I was going to learn this new lifestyle, no matter what it took.
As a teacher, I told my students all the time that it’s ok to fail. That’s the only way to learn. It was time for me to take my own advice.
It’s a long road, a hard journey, when learning to walk again. It’s difficult to take an old. easy, everyday task, and start over.
Have grace and forgiveness with yourself. Be patient, like you’d be with your own kids learning something new.
What advice would you give your baby who was just learning to walk? Would you be mad at them for trying their first steps and falling over? Of course not, so why would you be mad, upset, impatient with yourself?
Why is it that we are so hard on ourselves, yet so forgiving with others that we seeing trying and failing?
Remember, it is more rewarding to try, try, try again and get something, than to just be able to do something simple that you get on your first try.
When you are forced to subject yourself to uncertainty, and yet certain failures at first, you are building your experience, you are building your character, and you are building a warrior mentality. These are the characteristics that will help you succeed at your next task.
Don’t be afraid to get out there and try something new. You never know what will come of your efforts. What I have learned is that with every trial, I became stronger, met new people, inspired others, and found a deep joy for my new life that I wouldn’t change for the world!
Deep inside of you lies a warrior waiting to be unleashed! You’ve got this. Face your fears head on and watch how you will transform your life!!!
You are a warrior!!
This week begin to change your mindset. Speak positively to yourself and then think of 1 thing you have been wanting to do but have been too afraid to try it.
Now make a plan on how to get from point A to point B. Remember to break it down into baby steps. You cvan do this. I believe in you!
Work at it every day, even for 5-10 minutes. Realize that learning to do something new takes failure. Embrace the failures. Even laugh at yourself from time to time. We all fail at first.
Pick yourself back up and start again!
Don’t give up!
You’ve got this!!
Until next time,
Be Healthy,
Be Happy,
Be YOU!!!
Much love,
Angie
Love Yourself….
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Where You’re At
Ever felt alone, even though you are surrounded by your support, your family, your friends?
As an amputee, it can be hard for anyone to really grasp what we are feeling when it comes to nerve or “phantom” pains. To explain it, doesn’t do justice, yet we can deal with it 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I know I do.
There are many times that, even though we are surrounded by people who love us, we feel alone and having to handle pain and problems that accompany bring an amputee by ourselves. It is in those moments that we must rise up, become stronger than we ever thought we could be, and fight through the pain.
This can only be done when we treat ourselves like our own best friend. We must love who we are enough to support ourselves with positive words and thoughts, words we would lend a friend in need. Sometimes that is harder than it should be as we struggle in silence.
When we feed ourselves words of affirmation, love, positivity, and forgiveness, we give ourselves the greatest gift, a fighting chance to rise up stronger. We must learn to love ourselves, where we are, now, so we can gain a healthy mindset and live a full and healthy life.
Start today. Begin by affirming that you are worth love, happiness, and good health.
Speak positive words into your heart and mind.
Practice this daily, even hourly, if you need to, until it becomes second nature to be a positive person.
Your future self will thank you for it!!
Until next week, and as always,
Be Healthy,
Be Happy,
Be YOU!!!
Much love,
Angie
Reframing Your Circumstance
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Living Life With Gratitude
Life is hard.
You can choose to lay down and have it destroy you or you can reframe your thinking and how you view your circumstance by finding things and people in your life for which you can be grateful.
It’s that time of year when we hear people say they are thankful for their life, we see trinkets in our homes that say, “Grateful, thankful, blessed”, and Thanksgiving is right around the corner in which tell the people around d us that we are thankful for them in our lives.
Thankfulness is a hot topic in November, but what if you are struggling right now?
What if you are going through a rough patch?
Well, this is the time, more than ever that you need to find those moments, things, and people in your life that make your life special, happy, or filled with joy.
By reframing how we see our circumstance we enable ourselves to be at peace through these hard times. By seeking out the silver linings in our lives we are choosing a path of gratitude and happiness amidst the struggles.
This can be life altering! And the more we practice this way of thrilling and speaking the more often we will see what we are going through as just a moment, or blip, in time. A moment that will pass and nothing more.
Remember, we all have these moments. They are chances to define our character, grow, and reinvent ourselves. Without these hard times we cannot truly appreciate the good that has been in our lives or the good that is to come.
Reframe your thinking. Reframe your circumstance. Practice mindfulness, living in the moment and appreciating the little things in your life that are truly good.
Living a life of gratefulness is a choice, and one that will not only affect your situation, but it’ll also effect the people around you.
Choose an attitude of gratitude and spread that to all those around you. You might be surprised on how your outlook on life will be uplifted, and how you bless someone else with your positivity will come back to you ten-fold.
Practicing gratitude and reframing your circumstance:
* Don’t be picky, appreciate everything!
*Be mindful, and present
*Keep a gratitude journal
*Remember the hard/bad times, they will help you cherish where you are now.
*Pay it forward
*Reflect. Spend 5, 10, 30 minutes in quiet time, thinking about all you have
*Reframe your bad situation by finding the silver linings, what it could be teaching you, and how you are growing stronger for the future by going through it.
*Celebrate the little things
The sunshine
My family
My prosthetic that allows me my freedom
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours,
And as always,
Be Healthy,
Be Happy,
Be YOU!!!
Much love,
Angie
#thankful #grateful #gratitude #thanksgiving #podcast #bawarrior360 #abovekneeamputee #calltoaction #attitude #reframeyourcircumstance #payitforward
Pushing Past the Pain
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Be Strong! You Can Get Through This!
Pain is a tricky thing. Each of us experiences pain multiple times in life. It comes and goes. It happens when we have an accident, when we’ve had surgery, and sometimes it is invisible to the people around us. It is always very real to the person dealing with it. Pain is different for each of us, too. Some of us have a low tolerance for pain while others may not even register it- I have a friend whose son fractured a bone in his foot and the pain never registered to him!
There is no normal to pain OR pain relief. Each person has to figure out what they can tolerate and how to handle their pain when it hits.
While this sounds like a bummer because no one else can truly help you through your specific circumstance there are ways to help yourself that works for most people. I’m talking about building up your mental game.
Being outside in the sunshine and fresh air has so many health benefits both physically and mentally.
It’s important that you find a way to navigate through your pain. Be patient with yourself, too, there will be good days and bad days. Sometimes just recognizing the fact that there will be bad days, days which you can’t seem to handle the pain anymore, will help you have grace with yourself when you feel lost, stuck, or like throwing in the towel. Don’t let those moments defeat you. Use them to fuel you to keep moving forward. Stay as positive as you can and distract yourself, do something you love, to push through those weaker moments, just remember that we are human and we will fall short, every now and then, from handling our situations. If you feel like you have been knocked down, that’s ok, we all do at some point or another, but pull yourself up by the boot straps, and keep moving forward. Last week I wrote about the Chinese proverb: Get knocked down 7 times, get up 8. That’s what it takes to become stronger. Change your thinking. Don’t give in!
Dr. Roni Prucz, my amazing plastic surgeon who performed my TMR surgery in December 2020
This week I want you to write down your positive messages to yourself on post-it notes or notecards, and place them where you look everyday or in places where you struggle.
If you struggle getting out of bed in the morning then put them by your bedside. Statements such as:
“You can do this!”
“I will NOT quit!”
“Today is going to be great/better!”
“One step at a time”
Use these messages to yourself to motivate and not give up. You could even ask someone in your circle to write short affirmations for you to help as well. Just keep the positive vibes going. Send yourself messages of love and grace to yourself, and use them in times of weakness.
Until next time, remember:
Be Healthy,
Be Happy,
Be YOU!!!!
Much love,
Angie
