You know what it’s like when someone tells you not to think about something and all you can do is think about the thing you’re not supposed to be thinking about?
Taking my blood pressure is like that for me. For the second time in my life it’s been recommended that I take and record my BP several times during the day. So not only do I have to not think about it once a day, I have to not think about it three times a day. Not surprisingly this can have an effect on the BP reading.
For the past three weeks I’ve been pretending that this doesn’t make me nervous. I’ve been self-talking in hopes to stay calm, to overcome my natural reaction to that little machine that squeezes my are so tightly it stops the flow of blood to my hand…
A few days ago I started asking myself why all this makes me nervous and I couldn’t come up with an answer. How silly is it to be afraid of something that you really aren’t afraid of.
This forced me to do a little research – I went to the Google and there was an article from Harvard Medical. “They should know what they are talking about,” I assured myself.
Come to find out there is a new range of numbers that qualify as normal. Go figure! Normal isn’t normal anymore! Also, the dear folks at Harvard recommend changing the way high BP is dealt with. It would have been helpful if I would have done this research a few weeks ago.
It is said that perception is reality and I can’t help but put this experience into that scenario. My perception of normal had effected my reality. Within a few short paragraphs my perception changed and so did my reality. Now that little machine that squeezes my arm no longer is there to show me what’s wrong, rather, to prove how normal and healthy I am.
What’s the lesson? It’s important to have an educated perception. One that is based on fact, knowledge and even experience. One that can be defined, explained and is reassuring. Otherwise our perception is simply an assumption…and we all know what happens when we assume.
P.S.
If you haven’t checked it out, please take a look at Living Unstuck. It’s filled with stories, lessons and practices that have change my life and I would love to share them with you!