Inspiring and empowering people to maximize their quality of life in spite of a chronic health condition or a disability

STEPS TO CHANGE

  Issue # 7                                                                                                                                                                     November  2004

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      IN THIS ISSUE

 

TRAVELS WITH TRISH

FEATURE ARTICLE Evolution: Two Steps Forward and Three Steps Back

FEEDBACK FORUM

CHUCKLES TO LIGHTEN YOUR DAY

FR~EE RESOURCES

WORDS TO CONSIDER

ABOUT TRISH

 

A chronic health condition can be a catalyst for personal growth and self-discovery. 

Are you ready to break free of the bindings that are holding you back from discovering your own personal level of optimal health?

 We all have one – no matter what the condition is that ails us.  

I challenge you to want to discover yours!

I take people from an overwhelmed existence to a comfortably paced lifestyle. 

Are you ready for that journey?

Contact me today for a fr~ee sample coaching session and get started on living your maximum life.

TRAVELS WITH TRISH

What an amazing weekend I’ve had!  I’m in flight as I write this, returning from Saskatoon where I attended the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, Saskatchewan Division’s annual Family Conference.  They invited me to come out and deliver a workshop on my favorite topic, “Living Well with Chronic Illness”. 

If you’ve never attended one of my events (or even if you have), I invite you to join me on December 9^th at 7pm Eastern for a free one-hour TeleClass version of this workshop.      Click here and I’ll add you to my guest list.

Saskatoon was cold but sunny and very, very friendly.  The two most memorable things about this historic city for me are:  1> the way the men are so respectful of women (I can’t count how many times I heard “Yes, ma'am”!) and, 2> the car dealership I ran across inside the downtown mall.  Imagine… one minute I’m buying hair spray at Shopper’s Drug Mart and then just a few storefronts down there’s a showroom full of cars!

All in all, the weekend was magnificent.  I was pampered like a princess and catered to like a queen!  The organizers and the participants of the MS conference welcomed me with open arms and open hearts.  They fully participated in my presentation and gave me tons of positive feedback afterwards. What a blessing for me to have had this opportunity!  I thank God for the wonderful connections I’ve made with these truly gracious people.

To top off the weekend, Saturday evening I was privileged to have been presented with this year’s MS Society, National President’s Award.  They tell me that this is their most prestigious volunteer award across the country.  Wow!  What an honour!  I’m so excited; I can hardly wait to get home to show Ernest my “souvenirs”.  Thanks Saskatoon and thanks MS Society!  You’ll always hold a special place in my heart.

FEATURE ARTICLE

EVOLUTION:  TWO STEPS FORWARD AND THREE STEPS BACK

Quantum change?  Bah, humbug!  Whenever I hear people talking about quantum change, I wonder, “What the heck is that all about?”  Change to me has always been about “evolution”.  As far as I’m concerned, lasting change is something that comes about through an evolutionary process.

It’s like climbing a steep hill.  There are always a couple of different routes to choose from.  You can take the “seemingly” shorter distance, straight up from the bottom to the top.  Or you can take the “longer” one that winds back and forth from rock to rock and tree to tree, making the climb less steep in the long run.

The shorter route may look faster but the problem is that when you slip (and you usually do), it’s a hard fall back down to the bottom.  On the other hand, the longer route gives you small plateaus to stop, rest and catch your breath.  If you slip, it’s a short distance back to the last plateau.

It may feel like it’s taking longer to get to the top.  You may even find that sometimes you end up taking two steps forward and three steps back.  But slowly and surely you’re making solid progress up that hill.

Had you taken the more direct route, you’d have to gain momentum to climb the grade.  The problem with momentum though is that it doesn’t allow you a solid footing along the way. 

The same principle is true when you have a chronic health condition.  The short, direct route to remission or recovery (or just feeling better than yesterday) is usually a false sense of wellness.

Pop a pill and make the pain go away.  Have surgery and cut off the offending symptom.  Dive into work and forget the issues.

The more effective journey to wellness requires self-awareness, lifestyle improvement and an examination of the source of the problem.  A cessation of symptoms is the short-cut straight up the hill, but it’s usually temporary.  

You may very well get to the top but when bad weather comes along (and you can be sure that it will), you’ll find yourself back at the bottom with a recurrence of all the old symptoms plus likely some new ones to boot.

The longer route on the other hand will have resulted in a firm understanding of how you ended up at the bottom of the hill in the first place, as well as the knowledge of how to repeat your climb to the top more quickly.

You’ll come away from every relapse (three steps backwards) with a new perspective that’ll help you stand your ground the next time a storm rolls in.  In the end (or preferably along the way), you’ll realize that a healthy attitude about life’s evolution acknowledges that the three steps back turned out to be just as valuable as the two steps forward in the journey of life.

FEEDBACK FORUM

"You have helped me so much.  Our sessions are always so positive.  You are one great coach.  I really enjoy talking to you, just being open and frank about the facts and my feelings really helps to put things in perspective, and the feedback from you is always a picker-upper. Everybody should have a coach like you."

MM is a Collection Officer who has survived breast cancer and is managing depression well.

CHUCKLES TO LIGHTEN YOUR DAY

FR~EE RESOURCES

TeleSupport Group

Support for People with a Chronic Health Condition

(membership is a $10 per month value – yours FREE)

Held the 1st Thurs of every month 7:00 to 8:00 pm (Eastern)

What's a TeleSupport Group?

Glad you asked that!  It's like an in-person support group meeting in that there is a facilitator (me) and there'll be participants (yes, hopefully you) and we'll be getting together to share the challenges and successes we've experienced living with a chronic health condition.  The differences are that you don’t have to leave your house, you don’t have to drive to some distant location and you don’t even have to get dressed! 

How do I join?

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TeleClass

 3 Strategies for Living Well with Chronic Illness

(this event is a $30 value – yours FREE)

Held the 2nd Thurs of every month 7:00 to 8:00 pm (Eastern)

Are you ready to break free of the bindings that are holding you back from discovering your own personal level of optimal health?  We all have one - no matter what the condition is that ails us. I challenge you to want to discover yours!  

Class Description:

Over the course of one hour we'll explore 3 great strategies that you can incorporate into your life right away that will help you live well with chronic illness.  The key messages that you'll take away with you will include the ABC's for finally taking control.  Class notes will be provided by email following the session.

How do I register for the class?

Call me today at 905-967-3014 or email me, provide me with your first name only and I’ll provide you with the bridgeline to join us for the next class.  I hope you can be with us for this interactive event. Contact me today - you'll be glad you did!

WORDS TO CONSIDER

"Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents, which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant."  ~~  Horace

"Your chances of success are directly proportional to the degree of pleasure you derive from what you do."  ~~  Michael Korda 

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"A stumbling block to the pessimist is a stepping stone to the optimist."  ~~  Eleanor Roosevelt

ABOUT TRISH

Trish Robichaud is a Maximum Life Coach living with multiple sclerosis.  She's grateful to have been blessed with a God-given, instinctive ability for seeing assets in people and then reflecting those assets back to them. This enables her clients to confidently reach for and unleash their full potential.  

She facilitates TeleClasses and a monthly TeleSupport Group at no charge to participants as well as publishes a free monthly electronic newsletter.  Her background is in business with training in supportive counselling and life skills facilitation.  

Together with her experience advocating for people with disabilities, this makes her ideally suited to coaching others through their life and vocational transitions. She can be found on the web at www.ChangingPaces.com.