I want to tell you a tale of two diners, both of them me. Crabby Christine used to hate to go out to dinner with her husband Larry. Every time Larry would suggest we go out to eat, I would have to pretend to be pleased when all I could think about was all that food I wouldn’t be able to eat, because of my AIP protocol. I was equating going out with my sweetheart of a husband with deprivation, lack, want. In other words, I was associating pain with our date instead of pleasure. I really didn’t want to keep doing that. So I put on my coaching hat and sat crabby Christine down in my … [Read more...]
On Choosing Happiness – Part 1
One of the most challenging things I come up against with many of my patients is something that has nothing to do with medicine. It has to do with attitude. Take Sara. Sara is a middle-aged woman who works an office job. She complains about her job to me a lot. She also complains about her husband, her house, the yard work she has to do AND the pain that brings her in to see me. Sara believes that there is nothing she can do for herself except come to see me, which is only helpful for a short time, in any case. I have spoken with her many times over the years about the effect that … [Read more...]
