Release Fear and Negativity, Focus on the Desired Outcome

A few months ago, my family and I went on a vacation in the mountains of Montana. It was a beautiful trip with my husband, our daughters, our son and his wife. One night when we all went out to dinner together, I had gotten up to go to the restroom and as I was walking towards it, I slipped and fell HARD. My back, my elbow, my arm–it all hurt.  But in the heat of the moment, I got up and shook it off. I went to the restroom and sat back down for the rest of our dinner. 

Over the next few minutes, once the shock had worn off, I realized that my lower back was in pretty serious pain. I did my best to stay present and tried to enjoy the rest of the dinner together. As we were leaving the restaurant, though, my son noticed how uncomfortable I was and suggested we go to the hospital just to make sure I was alright. As it turns out, the hospital was just down the street. 

After being admitted to the emergency room, the doctors had to do all the x-rays and tests to make sure I was alright. 25 years ago I had fractured a vertebrae in an ATV accident and I found myself becoming fearful of possibly having an injury like that again. The memories from that accident were triggered by all the pain I was experiencing at that moment. While being in the hospital isn’t a fun experience for anyone, especially when old memories and fears rear their head, I chose to refocus my attention on the outcome I wanted, which was to have just sprained my back, relatively unscathed. 

With each passing moment spent in that emergency room I refused to let negativity and fear cloud my vision. I had to be diligent about it. Whenever my thoughts started drifting back to fear I shifted, took a breath, and envisioned myself walking out of the emergency room with a clean bill of health. After all the tests and x-rays, I was so grateful that the doctor told me it was just a sprain and that I would be just fine.

My unexpected fall was a reminder for me that it is incredibly easy to drift into negativity and fear, but by shifting my perspective and focusing on the experience I wanted I relieved myself of a lot of unnecessary emotional suffering. Even if the outcome had been different, fear and negativity wouldn’t have supported my healing or changing the outcome.

Through my experience that night in Montana, I was reminded that it is not our circumstances that define us, but our response to them. So often, we find ourselves in the depths of negativity, fixating on problems while overlooking the blessings that surround us. But what if we were to shift our focus, to set our sights on the outcomes and results we DO want to create in our lives? Just that one shift can and will make a massive difference in your life if you’re willing to practice coming from a vision and leaning into positivity.