9 Days Out. My leg hurts so much; I wish I could cut it off because that would feel better than this. What happened to my life?! This pain and discouragement make it hard to believe that God still cares. Maybe He forgot about me.

I started keeping a journal during my recovery and this is one of the first entries I have shared from it. Looking back, I can’t tell you exactly why I decided to keep a journal. I’ve always been a writer, though not a consistent journaler per se. As I’m flipping through the pages now, it appears to be a disordered collection of thoughts, feelings, get-well cards, appointment reminder cards, daily activities, and song lyrics. The pages are torn, and wrinkled, and things are stuffed in and falling out; taped, folded, and stapled to the pages in every which way.  It’s spiral-bound and thick with a frilly design etched from Easter grass green, lacy white, and sky blue. This passage graces the cover-

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things and at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. – 2 Corinthians 9:8

Totally not like me – the disorganization, the lack of forethought, the frilly things, and the Bible passage. I don’t recognize some of the writing because it doesn’t sound like me either.

Yet, for three and a half months in the summer of 2012 after my pulmonary embolism, it was me. And I wouldn’t change what is in it for anything.

Recovery is hard. Very hard. And there were – and still are – days I thought I may not make it through. Sometimes, it’s the small – or even big – things that remind us why we are here, why we keep pushing, and why we shouldn’t settle for less than what we deserve. Upon reading through my journal, I found out how to get inspired in 7 steps.*

1. You are better than you think!

2. Hope sets success in motion.

3. Times don’t stay tough. Easier days are ahead.

4. You’re more important than your to-do list.

5. Things can turn out even better than you’ve dreamed.

6. You shine brighter than the sun, moon, and stars!

7.  Believe in the power of today!

Write them down, read them, save them to your desktop, or snapshot them on your phone for inspiration when you’re feeling blue. You can also pin, share, tweet, or post how to get inspired in 7 steps with the graphic below-

Share your story. Have you kept a journal during your recovery? Are there any motivational steps you would like to share? Which of the above seven steps is most inspiring to you?

There is hope for healing and you are not alone,

 

* Please note, these seven steps originally appeared in the June 2012 issue of Women’s World Magazine as seven days. I adapted them to fit my own recovery.