Warrior Mindset

When I was 17 years old, I had a kidney transplant. 

This precious gift was given to me by one of my sisters and I immediately knew I had to be a good steward and care for it the rest of my life. This could only mean, I had to take care of myself. This concept became a part of me and I didn’t want to lose it, or disappoint my sister. And because of this, I stayed away from smoking, excessive use of alcohol and was mindful of limiting my consumption of processed foods, mostly due to the salt content.

But, even though I took fairly good care of my body, being in a negative environment long term made it difficult for me to want to care of myself. I would have to remind myself of my earlier promise of taking care of myself to keep going, even when I found myself thinking, “what’s the point”. Negativity can take a drastic toll on your mind as well as your body, and vice versa. If we aren’t aware of our ability to do something about it, we can be consumed by it. 

For me, it took a life-altering injury and illness and out on my own a few decades after my transplant before I fully realized I absolutely had to put my health first as a priority again. Working hard to put my body back together was such a challenge because my biggest enemy had become myself. I didn’t love myself enough to do it, but I knew if I wanted to live, I had no choice.

So I began to use two of the greatest blessings as my focus to find my way back to health and that was my two wonderful sons. I wanted to make them proud of me. I wanted to be around for them for a very long time. And once I truly understood that God was for me, and not against me, my strength to continue grew stronger.

I wish I could tell you that my transformation back to health was a swift victory, but it was not. It was a slow and sometimes discouraging process. At the time when I began, I didn’t know how to do it, so I floundered quit a bit. Sometimes it felt more like one step forward and two steps backward, but eventually, I found things that worked for me. And slowly I began to build back myself piece by piece. 

I knew that if I kept going, kept getting back up again, and allowed myself to believe that I was worth it, I was going to make it. I clung to scripture of God’s love and never ending presence and words that encouraged me to believe that He created me to overcome. I wanted to be a warrior, before I even truly knew what one looked like.

What I learned is that warriors are not always victorious. Warriors fall, feel defeated and sometimes lose with what feels like epic proportions. But, the one characteristic that all warriors have, is that they get back up again. No matter how many times it takes, they don’t stay down for long. And each time they rise again, they become stronger and more capable of handling the battle they face. But it also takes take time to rest and recover and sometimes rethink our strategy so we’re always moving in a positive direction. And the driving factor is what we feed the roommate inside our head.

Because of the neuroplasticity of our brain, we are capable of learning our entire lives, even into our later and last years. And when we stretch our brain’s mental capacity beyond our comfort zone, it is then that growth takes place. New neuropathways develop and resilience and wisdom strengthen our ability to continue. 

But, we also need to take care of our mind. Rest, healthy diet and lifestyle make a huge difference in our ability to grow our mind. This is where my growth began to take traction. When my faith crossed paths with science of the brain.

I dove headlong into self-help books to learn all I could about my mind and the psychology behind my past and how it affected me. Those books led me to more books, some written by neuroscientists, and even some who believe in God, to which I delightfully discovered do exist.

In the combination of all that I learned and my deep and meaningful conversations with God, I finally began to believe that I was going to be okay. And I stepped onto the path of true healing that slowly and meaningfully began to take shape. It was not an instant fix, but it was something tangible I could work with and it gave me a sense of control for the first time in my life. Each new season brought an opportunity for more growth as I bumped into roadblocks along the way. Some were more scary than others, but I knew I had to push through. I knew I wanted to get to the other side of my fears so that I could feel truly alive. And for the first time, my hope was in full motion.

I am now living a life where I feel great and continue to take care of myself. My effort has paid off and a healthy lifestyle has become a normal way of living for me. I am still and always will be working to maintain a positive and healthy mindset. Life will always find a way to challenge roadblocks, but I am so grateful I have the tools to know what to do or at least know how to search for help to help me navigate my way through them.

It is my greatest hope that you believe that you are worth it too, and that you become inspired to put your health as a top priority so that you can be around for years to come for those you love. Growing pains are real, but what is beyond is so worth the work.

Stay faithful. You are worth it.