Tag: empowerment

On Strength

Posted on July 28, 2021 by Isaac Peterson

Posted in Motivation & Inspiration Quotes, Our BEST Stories Leave a comment

Sometimes, when somebody tells me they think I’m making a remarkable recovery from my stroke, I answer in this way: Well, it didn’t kill me, so it must have made me stronger.

I think most people have probably heard a version of that quote: what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. I always thought I knew what the author of that quote meant by it, but not being a famous philosopher, maybe I don’t really get his actual meaning.

Yet, here’s what it means to me:

I don’t feel angry or bitter or sorry for myself.

When I experience a setback, I get back up and keep on fighting; the battle isn’t over until I win it.

I accept my condition as inescapable and constantly find ways to work around it or through it.

I consider myself a survivor and not a victim.

I hold my head up high, no matter what the challenge is.

I don’t wallow in self-pity and don’t accept pity from others.

I hold myself to a high standard and do everything within my current limitations to meet that standard; when I’m complimented on something I’ve done, I say this: I don’t expect anything less of myself.

I focus on my strengths and don’t dwell on my weaknesses.

I believe in myself, no matter what. I have total faith in myself.

I don’t allow my brain injury to rule my life or define who or what I am.

I show my strength in trying to do all that (and more) every day. My main superhero power is hanging in there and hanging on, no matter what.

So coming through a major stroke made me stronger, and even more so than I would have thought possible. Maybe I could call myself the Amazing TBI-Man, master of whatever life throws at me, more powerful than a severe traumatic brain injury.

I already have a costume; jeans, a T-shirt and sneakers.

But I’m not fighting this fight alone. I don’t know you, but if you’re a TBI survivor you no doubt are stronger too. Maybe we can all form a superhero team. The only membership requirement is to feel your own strength and celebrate it every day.

Let’s fight the good fight together, and let’s win it together.

Isaac Peterson grew up on an Air Force base near Cheyenne, Wyoming. After graduating from the University of Wyoming, he embarked on a career as an award-winning investigative journalist and as a semi-professional musician in the Twin Cities, the place he called home on and off for 35 years. He doesn’t mind it at all if someone offers to pick up his restaurant tab and, also, welcomes reader comments. Email him at isaac3rd@gmail.com. Read more articles by Isaac here; https://www.brainenergysupportteam.org/archives/tag/isaac-peterson

Monday Motivation: July 26, 2021

Posted on July 26, 2021 by Kim Thompson

Posted in Motivation & Inspiration Quotes, Quote Of The Week, Self-Care & Mindfulness Leave a comment

It’s World Brain Day!

Posted on July 22, 2021 by Kim Thompson

Posted in BEST Updates, Brain Health & Healing, Brain Injury Awareness, Community News, Motivation & Inspiration Quotes, Self-Care & Mindfulness Leave a comment

Today is World Brain Day!

Created in 2014, the first brain day was launched on July 22nd of that year. The annual event was designed to help promote awareness on brain health and wellness on a global scale.

At the Brain Energy Support Team (BEST), we believe that our BEST strategy for brain health and wellness is empowerment. Empowered brains means better self-care, knowledge and self-advocacy!

For us, every day is World Brain Day.

We welcome you to peruse this very website and blog for information, tips, strategies and inspiration to empower your brain to live your best life possible.

Here’s to our brains!

In a Flash: The Moment I Realized I was Recovering from a Stroke

Posted on June 14, 2021 by Isaac Peterson

Posted in Brain Health & Healing, Brain Injury Awareness Leave a comment

Maybe you could call it a flash of insight, an epiphany, or a sudden realization. Whatever you want to call it, I just had one, about my recovery, and I want to tell you about it.

I have to kind of build up to it, though.

The other day I was out walking, minding my own business, lost in thought.

Then for some reason, out of the blue, I started thinking about something I did in fifth grade I haven’t thought about in many years. I was living in Wyoming at the time, a state that’s big on hunting. My father only hunted a handful of times, but one time he did, and brought home ducks.

After my mom did all the things you have to do to get the ducks all ready for cooking, I snagged a couple of duck feet from the trash. I was curious; I thought it was just so cool that when you pulled on the tendons (or whatever they were) that stuck out, the feet would move and kind of clench.

I was like a kid with a new toy—well, I was a kid, and I did have something new to play with, so I guess it’s an apt analogy. I didn’t tell my parents I had those duck feet.

I held on to them the rest of the weekend and put those feet in my pocket and took them to school with me to wow the other kids. They all thought it was one of the super coolest things they’d ever seen. Not everybody felt that way, though: my teacher thought I was weird and my mother thought I was nuts. I thought it was funny.

That was a fond memory, one I hadn’t thought of in decades, but it triggered another memory. I told you all of that to tell you about the other memory, one directly related to recovering from my brain injury.

When I was released at the end of the month I spent in the hospital after my stroke, I felt a little down; I had always been told by people they thought I had a fantastic memory and a pretty sharp mind. Now it occurred to me my greatest asset had been damaged. I was dazed and in a mental fog that wouldn’t go away—I was afraid that was how things would be the rest of my life.

One night, about four months after the stroke, I had an electrifying experience that didn’t involve actual electricity, but was still very shocking.

I was lying in bed, on the edge of falling asleep and I felt a kind of jolt in my head. Memories from all phases of my entire life came to me in a cascade that was so quick I don’t think it could be measured in terms of time. It was very similar to the flash that brought the memory of those duck feet.

But suddenly here I was, with a flash flood of memories that I could see and feel, almost as vividly as when I first lived them.

I could remember my first day of kindergarten; the name of the kid that sat behind me in first grade and a girl in that class that was my first crush; the first book I ever read. I could even remember events from the time before I could talk. I’ve spoken with my mom about some of those things and she verified that they actually happened.

The fog had lifted; my mind was suddenly crystal clear. I didn’t get smarter; it was just that my mind was more of an open book.

But I soon noticed that some of the aftereffects of the stroke had started to lessen as well. For the previous few months I could barely speak above a whisper—now I had the full power and range of my voice again. My sense of balance had improved by a lot, and other parts of my post-stroke existence and awareness had improved.

Although my long-term memory was phenomenal again, I still have short-term memory issues that continue to bug me, but my short-term memory still improved a bit that night.

One of the most important of those things that improved was my confidence that I could still write. This was a huge deal for me, as it was later in the same month I started contributing writing to this blog.

I think I know what happened to me that night: that was the real beginning of my recovery from the traumatic brain injury that stroke had left me with. I still struggle with some things, but I have fewer challenges than I did before.

Yet, I recognize that I still have a good way to go in my recovery.

The brain of every brain injury survivor works overtime to bring the person back, as much as possible, to what he or she was before brain injury. I guess my brain really wanted me to get better, and get better soon, so we could be friends again. Before that moment, I could look, but now I could see. But I didn’t even realize how much I had improved. It was only after that night I realized how lost in the fog I had been.

But I did wonder if the improvement was all in my head, so to speak. I didn’t need to worry; my rate of recovery was visible to the people around me. Everybody commented that I had just improved so much so fast. The other members of my brain injury support group would tell me how much better they could see that I was doing, meeting after meeting. I keep getting better, but not in any dramatic way that I can see or feel, I can just tell I’m getting better in smaller ways all the time. I know it will still take a long time, if ever, that I am done progressing but I am still making progress nonetheless.

Even during some of the toughest times of my life I always somehow felt I was the luckiest man in the world; now I feel I’m the luckiest stroke survivor.

I wish I could tell you how to make something like that happen for you, but sadly, I don’t know how it happened to me. All I know is my brain was really rooting for me to come out on top, and it really came through for me when it mattered most.

Happy Talk!

Posted on May 30, 2021 by BEST Admin

Posted in Self-Care & Mindfulness Leave a comment

“Happy talk, keep talking happy talk. Talk about things you’d like to do.”

This line from the Rogers & Hammerstein musical “South Pacific” always made me smile. Not so much the boy-girl thing, but definitely the positive outlook that “happy talk” about things I wanted to do (dreams) could make life unfold the way I wanted.

Idealistic thinking of a young child? Perhaps.

But I’ve been doing that my whole life and especially over the past year as the COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted BEST and our precious brain injury community. As our BEST team remained hopeful, positive, and focused on the future we brainstormed, strategized, and “happy talked” our way through challenges, disappointment, and change.

Often, though, we are prone to negative self-talk. You know the comments I mean, especially if you’re a woman. We can be self-critical and with each negative comment we chip away at our confidence, increase our stress levels, and compromise our overall well-being.

On the other hand, if you use positive language instead you’ll lower your blood pressure, midigate the effects of anxiety and depression, improve your immune system, strengthen your cardiovascular system, experience less stress, and enjoy greater overall satisfaction with your life.

While referring to positive self-talk as “happy talk” may seem amusing it will seriously change your life. The benefits have been proven over and over again in study after study.

Here are three examples of negative self-talk and how we can turn it around to be more “happy talk”.

Example #1

Negative: I’ll disappoint everyone if I change my mind.

Positive: I have the power to change my mind. Others will understand.

Example #2

Negative: I’m overweight and out of shape and have been for years. Why bother exercising?

Positive: I am capable and strong, and I want to get healthier for myself.

Example #3

Negative: I’ve never done this before and I just know I’ll suck at it.

Positive: This is a wonderful opportunity for me to learn from others and grow.

Other positive statements, or Happy Talk, include

Attempting to do this takes courage. I am proud of myself for trying.

Even though it wasn’t the outcome I hoped for, I learned a lot about myself.

I might still have a way to go, but I am proud of how far I have already come.

I am capable and strong, I can get through this.

Tomorrow is a chance to try again and to build on the lessons I learned today.

To make this work I will give it everything I’ve got.

I can’t control what other people think, say or do. I can only control me.

This is an opportunity for me to try something new.

I can learn from this situation and grow as a person.

So, for today, our Mindfulness Monday exercise is about how you can enjoy the benefits of positive self-talk; your own brand of happy talk.

Step 1 – Think about a quality that you are proud of or an aspect of your personality you like. Or choose a statement from the above list.

Step 2 – Write it down.

Step 3 – Read often throughout the day.

Other articles you might find interesting:

One Word Makes All The Difference

Today I Am Grateful

BEST Mantras To Increase Your Happiness And Health

Gloria's career as an independent nonprofit consultant, trainer, and writer spans over 30 years giving her lots to talk about. She has a deep passion for sustainability, both environmentally and organizationally. Enjoy her perspectives on community, development, and tales from her virtual world travels.

Brain Injury Doesn’t Mean Social Isolation

Posted on May 19, 2021 by Isaac Peterson

Posted in Brain Health & Healing, Education, Self-Care & Mindfulness Leave a comment

One thing I’m glad about is that my brain injury rarely made me feel isolated and alone, like with so many other brain injury survivors. I did feel it briefly a few times, but that was because soon after I was discharged from the hospital in St. Paul I was shipped to Tacoma, where I didn’t know anybody but two of my sisters.

But isolation and loneliness are a consequence for many, if not most survivors. I’ve been wondering why it’s that way for so many and I haven’t been able to come up with much of any real biological cause for that TBI side effect.

Where else could that loneliness come from? Definitely one of those things that make you go hmmm…

Let me think out loud for a few minutes here.

I know; let me talk about it through my communication background. Communication can get kind of complicated and involved, so I’ll break it down into bite-sized chunks.

What does your communication behavior communicate about you? Nowhere near all of your communication behavior is deliberate. What you say or think you are saying is open to interpretation by a listener or observer. What are you actually communicating to others?

Here’s one: Continually talking about your brain injury

This can make some people tune out in a hurry. It’s natural to be thinking about your injury all the time when you’re a TBI survivor, and in fact, it’s impossible not to think about. Your brain injury is with you 24 hours a day, but some people can’t handle hearing about it every time they see you.

Some others:

Having attention, concentration and memory problems, having difficulty focusing on a topic of conversation for more than a few minutes

This can make you seem bored or uninterested in what someone else is saying. Repeating questions you’ve already asked (I had a bad case of this early on after my TBI) happens when short term memory makes it next to impossible to keep track of a conversation, even on your end of one. To people who don’t know about your brain injury you can come off as feeble-minded or scatterbrained.

Interrupting or “speaking out of turn”

This can be traced back to difficulty concentrating or focusing. It’s not your fault, but to others it can be interpreted as rudeness or lack of consideration for others.

Speaking without any emotional inflection

Depression happens with a lot of TBI survivors but not all. Constantly speaking in a “flat” tone. Speaking in a monotone for any length of time can make you come across as bored and uninterested.

Slower information processing and mental fatigue

With your brain busy trying to heal itself, you use up an awful lot of mental energy. To heal, some parts of the brain still work but don’t have as much energy to work with. It’s not possible to keep all the brain cells and neural pathways available to all the sensory cues you pick up from your surroundings and process them as quickly as they did before your injury. That can make it pretty hard to keep a conversation going, especially fast-moving or detailed conversations. Taking in too much external input can make your brain feel like it’s shutting down, something most people without a brain injury just can’t relate to.

Difficulty connecting concepts or objects with words

This isn’t something I thankfully never had to deal with, but some survivors do go through, depending on which area of their brain is injured. This can cause some survivors to come across as dull-witted and slow, even though they normally or not. When they just can’t think of the words to say because the concept isn’t quite clear to them is something some survivors just can’t help. If the other person is speaking about a topic or object you can’t connect with, even the most simple ones, you are not projecting much intelligence to the other person. Keep in mind that many people simply do not, cannot, or will not understand your condition and your difficulties communicating. This lead to them being annoyed, frustrated, impatient and wanting to disengage with you.

There are other conditions and difficulties than these, but I hope you get the gist.

You are not quite the same person your friends knew before and they may not understand and so can’t understand why you don’t communicate the way you had before. .As much difficulty as you may have being a survivor, others have just as much difficulty trying to communicate. These people are not necessarily insensitive or uncaring—it’s just that the experience of communicating with you may just put those people in a mutually uncomfortable situation. Their keeping distance may just be their way of avoiding their own discomfort. They may not understand that you are not doing these things on purpose or what their response is doing to you. You want to be understood, and so does the other person.

Some people may just stop trying. Your friends were comfortable with you the way you were, and may not understand you are not that person any more. They may have gotten locked into the way things were between you before and just don’t know how to adapt to who you are now. And it may be difficult to see you as you are now.

So what can you do to change any of that?

I can’t tell you because I don’t know. What I can do, hopefully, is to give you a possible dimension of your loneliness and isolation to think about. You may not be able to change things, but being aware of the effect you have on others may help.

It’s not your fault you have a brain injury, and it may not be the other’s fault for reacting as many people do who can’t relate to your injury. As much as you need to understand the way you are now, I hope you will do your best to understand others.

The best I can do is to urge you to be yourself. You’re not the same person you were and may not ever quite be that person again. But at least you can work on being comfortable with yourself.