message 310

One of the most important sentences you’ll ever hear.

“Talking about our problems is our greatest addiction.”

Let me say this again

“Talking about our problems is our greatest addiction.”

This applies to ALL our problems, including chronic pain (and also any kind of pain).

Why? What are we going to talk about then?

The second question is the easiest to answer – what are we going to talk about?

We should always be talking about either the good things that have happened to us or the good things that are going to happen. That’s a wonderful way to send your desires out into the universe. The universe will then deliver them back.

That statement also begins to answer the first question – why shouldn’t we talk about our problems?

Because we send them out into the universe and then the universe delivers them back to you. The universe doesn’t know the difference between good and bad nor does it know what’s in the past or the present or the future. That’s why your gratitude list can often contain thanks for things you want but don’t yet have. This is what happened with my manifestation of my house that I talked about yesterday.

Regarding chronic pain this same idea applies. If you talk about the pain, the universe thinks you want more pain and it delivers.

But there’s another concept that applies to chronic pain. The more you talk about your pain and how much it hurts and how it’s not fair and why me, the more danger your brain thinks you’re in. When your brain thinks there’s danger, it stays in the fight or flight, hypervigilant mode and those established pain circuits continue to fire. There’s no chance to create a sense of safety and new circuits.

You’ve heard me talk many times about the importance of conveying safety to your brain in order to calm the nervous system. There’s little chance of improvement if that doesn’t occur.

Every time you talk about your pain or disability, your brain goes on high alert and there’s just the opposite of safety then.

Of course you have to answer your medical providers’ questions but that’s it. Any “support groups” should ne meticulously checked to see how much the members talk about the pain and its interference with their lives. They are really not support. It would be neat if someone created support groups that focused on getting people to focus on something good, no matter how little.

This morning I was feeling a bit down as I was driving to an appointment and then I actually said out loud “what are you doing, Terrie? Everything is terrific. You have more than you need and there’s such beauty in your life. Why don’t you think about that.” So I did and it worked. I ended up having a diamond day and I hope you do too

Message 309

I was talking with a friend yesterday and it reminded me of how I ended up with the perfect house. So I thought I’d share it with you.

In order to get this perfect house it required a few components:

• specifics 
• Visualization 
• Nothing negative getting it in the way
• Acting as if 
• And the most important factor was excitement 

I’d always known what I wanted in a house. One story, a computer room and an exercise room. A bike lane where I could run and bike.

When I was searching for houses in San Antonio I came across something called an outside access. Turns out that’s what we used to call a back door.

This was an exciting concept to me and I told everyone about it. If you asked me how I was doing, somehow I would work outside access into the conversation. The entire house I imagined really got me pumped up and I was excited about moving to San Antonio.

I came to San Antonio on what the military calls house hunting. I wasn’t having much luck. So my friend took me around the city and we looked for houses.

We found a couple in this one neighborhood. I gave the addresses to the realtor and the next day she showed me this particular house.

I walked in and it was exactly as I had visualized. They had a specific exercise room. The computers were set up beautifully in the family room. It was a single story and guess what. There are 5 outside accesses. Every room in the house has an outside door. The neighborhood also has a bike lane.

To make this an even bigger miracle is that the people living in the house were what’s called house sitters. They did not want the house to sell so they would take the for sale sign out of the ground and lay it flat so people wouldn’t see it as they drove by. It was just by “accident” that it was up when we drove by.

I know this discovery happened because I imagined it and sent it out to the universe. What cemented it, though, was the enthusiasm I had for it and especially the outside access. It also helped that I was confident that I would get a great house and be set. I knew nothing would stand in my way! And nothing did.

So remember these elements:

• specifics are key 
• Visualization is vital 
• Nothing negative can get in the way
• Acting as if (I already owned it) 
• And the most important factor is excitement/enthusiasm 

Message 306

It’s about 7 weeks til the end of the year. Start now and beat the rush.

“Start doing what?”I’m sure you’re asking your phone.

It’s time to revisit your year, your goals and start planning for 2026

You know how Dr Gilbert will start a challenge the day after Thanksgiving to help you get a head start on developing new habits so you’ll be ahead of your peers by the time the ball drops on New Year’s Day.

Why not use this next 2 weeks to do an inventory. You know how we always talk about these concepts:
⁃ it’s the start that stops most people
⁃ It’s the process not the outcome
⁃ Take your goals and chunk them down.

How has your year been? Do you know specifics? You should. If you don’t know the details, how can you decide what to do or where to go.

This was the most important lesson I learned this year at vol state. You have to have data in order to make informed decisions. Anything else you use simply leads to emotion driven decisions.

So use the next two weeks to review your 2025 goal list but that’s not all.

After that write down what you’ve accomplished this year. You can include things you’re positive will occur before the end of the year

Next write things that have popped into your head that you either started, thought about starting, or want to start. Write down whatever comes to you.

Now go back over that list and see which ones really light a fire in you. Circle them or better yet put them on a separate piece of paper.

Decide if those circled ones are things you want to tackle or begin to work on in 2026.

Keep this list handy and read it frequently between now and Thanksgiving. Let it marinate. When you review it again in about 2 weeks you’ll go through the same review process with a primary purpose of seeing where the lightning strikes after the marination

Next take your 2025 goal list again and see which ones you’ve achieved.

If there are any left, decide if you want to carry them over to 2026.

The point to all of this is to get your mind used to the fact that this year is almost over and it’s time to wrap things up and get ready for the new year. You really want to get your 2026 goals determined and listed well before Jan 1st. The more you review these items and go over them in your head and heart, the sooner you’ll be getting started and the more excitement you’ll have. With greater excitement, you’ll be more likely to reach those goals.