‘Why I allow my son to catch me when I fall into negative language’

From what I understand, 2017 was a memorable year for a lot of people. Some of us were very relieved when it ended. However, some of my attitudes crept their way into 2018 and at first, I didn’t realise it. My body had been doing some very strange things and there were times that I found it difficult to walk and pain would often rob me of my sleep. There were moments that I thought I would just accept that this was my time to give up. Maybe I was too old to recuperate. But… I have someone living in my home that had other ideas. My son Matt, who had overcome a terrible accident in his childhood when he lost half his skull. I was given no hope of his recovery and was told if he did survive he would be a vegetable.

Matt came through against all odds, unable to walk, paralysed on his left side, and with speech difficulties. He had to start from scratch after being able to read before he went to school, it took years for him to be able to read and speak. With huge effort on his part, he began to walk and within the year, was able to gain a lot of movement in his arm.

The next year the surgeon grafted two ribs into the side of his head where there had been no bone, and these have grown with him and no one would ever know. He says he became resolute to gain a full recovery because of my firmness with him. I would never allow him to feel sorry for himself. Others followed suit and when he was allowed to attend school eight months after the accident for short periods. I was excited for him and was surprised to see tears running down his cheeks. He knew he couldn’t walk without his walking stick, but he didn’t want to wear his helmet. At that time, he had no bone on the right side of his head and his pulsating brain was visible under the skin that had been stitched over it. I would bandage his head and put a helmet on for protection. I couldn’t risk him falling over and he was also suffering some seizures following the accident.

I really felt for him that first day as he hobbled into the school. I could see tears glistening in his eyes as he anticipated the teasing he felt he would have to endure. As I looked in the school window, I was the one with tears as the teacher had every child with a helmet on their head and what’s more, they looked as if it was the most natural thing in the world. A smile spread on his little face and he walked confidently into the classroom. He believes that this experience paved the way for his full recovery, which he worked really hard at. There are so many stories about this recovery. Technology has been very good for him and whilst he will always have the imprint of a car handle in his brain, it has certainly regenerated, and he is a director of IT at his company. Sometimes I forget all this when he seems to be hard on me.

Anyway, I have changed my attitude and amazing things are happening. I do believe that the way we think and what we say has so much bearing on our lives. Some people call it the law of attraction, but whatever it is called, it is certainly working for me. My pain is almost gone and with the help of a personal trainer I feel stronger than I have in years. I now allow my son to catch me if I fall into the trap of negative language. I am now back to planning what I am going to do when I grow up and am already signed up for a speaking assignment in Thailand at the end of September. Also, after doing nothing much last year, I have clients approaching me from places I didn’t expect. This positive stuff really works and I’m on fire!

Do you believe in the power of thought? Has there been an event in your life that required you to change your way of thinking?

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