After making our lists someone in my group, see Blow Your Own Trumpet – Part One, suggested we blow our own trumpets.

“We could read our lists to each other and then tell each other something we are good at or have achieved or are proud of, Blow our own trumpet’s.”

Argh! A cringe took hold, grabbing me tightly and I wanted to hide. All the limiting beliefs I struggle with reared their heads in a gorgon like squirming. They tell me I’m not good enough, I never get it right, I’m wrong, no-one likes me, you’ll make a fool of yourself.

Thankfully although they feel very real at times, I know what they are, I know they are not true, they are only constructs of my mind that are, fortunately, diminishing over time. I know it’s only an old neural pathway in my brain that’s been triggered.

If I listen to all the clamouring I am living in the Story of Separateness, I am withholding and allowing fear to dominate and dictate my actions.

As we take it in turns to share our lists my heart begins to swell, and I cheer, it is a truly heart warming experience to witness another person sharing honestly and openly like this. Our lists are full of being-ness, they are who we are.

Yea!!

And then the Blow Your Own Trumpet round arrives. This is not a CV of qualifications it is about us sharing something we are proud of, about ourselves. I hide behind my hands and squirm, but again it is a beautiful experience to witness this sharing, this telling of who I am in the world and what that has enabled me to do.

None of this was been done easily or without stress and strain but nonetheless we have all overcome or achieved, made, created or birthed something amazing into the world, something to be proud of and definitely something to blow our own trumpet about.

So I have decided to share mine, despite the limiting beliefs waving from the sidelines, trying to catch my attention and shut me up I am going to Blow My Own Trumpet right here, right now.

I have basically healed myself of ME/CFS. I have a few wee niggles still to iron out but essentially I have healed without the help of doctors, drugs or other medical interventions.

Ta dah!

And in the process I have learned heaps about health and wellbeing.

It has been tough, I have had to face many emotional and psychological demons, sometimes over and over again. I have changed my diet, my lifestyle and my way of being in the world.

Many times I wanted to give up because it felt too hard and I would have loved someone to take over, tell me what to do and to hand me a pill that would take it all away. That pill does not exist and truth be known I would never have taken it anyway. I didn’t want to numb out, dampen down, or suppress my symptoms I wanted to heal, I wanted to do something about it, and I have and I am.

I have learned to wonder why, what is causing this? What has happened to the system that is me, to make this to happen now?

By asking these questions and daring to face the answers I have been able to understand the many and complex reasons that I ended up so unwell.

Healing is an ongoing process, a life long dance with reality. Shit happens, the world is toxic, stress is unavoidable and I’m not perfect, so like everyone some days are better than others. It is an ongoing process of altering and adjusting to meet the circumstances of my life.

I don’t have a blueprint for healing chronic illness but I do have a story to share, some hope and inspiration to offer and some skills and information that may be of interest to those seeking healing.

So, I’ve done it, I’ve BLOWN MY OWN TRUMPET, I have told my truth, this is me and my story.

By sharing our stories we connect, you see me and I see you. I learn who you are and you learn who I am and then through the synergy of togetherness we create something new, greater than the sum of our separateness.

So get together with others, tell them who you see they are, what they bring to the world, and ask them to do the same for you.

Toot toot……………ta dah, ta dah!