Louise Hay came into my life at a very pivotal time.
I was a young struggling teen who had just left home to go to Uni.
Consumed with insecurities about life, about myself and about my body, I had hoped in moving away from home I’d somehow find peace.
But these same feelings followed me.
Everywhere I went I felt rejected, inadequate, not enough.
The only thing that gave me any sense of relief, from these incessant thoughts, was throwing up.
I’d eat a lot of food and then purge it.
It felt great, like a deep sense of peace would come over me in those moments.
I didn’t know back then that this peace was available to me without harming myself, without engaging in such habits.
The turning point came one day when I was faced with crossing the road to catch the bus to Uni.
There was a flyover bridge that pedestrians were meant to use, but in that moment I didn’t see the point.
Feeling hopeless, run down and apathetic about life, I didn’t care if I was knocked down that day.
Car horns tooting and the wind blowing in my face, something in me jolted and I suddenly woke up.
I realized that it wasn’t that I didn’t want to live , it was that I didn’t want to live like this anymore.
Something had to change.
This sent me on a search for help which initially started with therapy, where I’d find myself drawing pictures twice a week with my therapist, who specialized in eating disorders.
I liked the fact I had an eating disorder therapist.
It made me feel special and like I was part of a club but then one day I was invited to an event where a bunch of us “sufferers” all got together to hear each other’s stories and I realized I wasn’t one of them.
I thought to myself “what am I doing here?”
Most of all I did not want to become like these girls.
I quickly got out of therapy and identifying with my “disorder” and later found myself in a book store.
I knew I still needed help but what type of help?
There I stood in the bookstore, my nose was dripping, as usual, so run down due to lack of nutrients and that’s when I saw it.
Louise Hay’s book, You Can Heal Your Life.
I bought the book immediately and quickly absorbed the meaning and pages, putting to work the affirmations and yes, I was completely healed and was living a whole new life within 90 days.
Some will argue that I was ready, that’s why it worked for me.
Maybe so, but a bigger piece to my recovery was the role of hope.
Louise’s words inspired hope.
She gave us all a roadmap back home.
From bulimics to battered wives, to cancer patients and those suffering aids, she spoke directly to the truth of who we really are with each affirmation.
“All is well in my world”
“I love and approve of myself, exactly as I am”
“Life loves me”
And that’s the power of hope.
It brings you back home to the truth , you begin to change when you feel hope once again.
It’s the most powerful force there is, without it we’re flat beings just pacing through life.
I’m all for what Louise has given us, she’s given us a lot of hope and saved a lot of lives in the process.
At a time when fear and insecurity is ripe in our world, taking over our lives, making people do crazy shit and clouding our mind, it’s crucial to recall hope , however you find it, through books, affirmations, travel, coaching.
As coaches and those helping others, we play an important role in sharing hope, in spreading hope and being living examples of what’s truly possible beyond the limited thoughts of an insecure mind.
What greater contribution to humanity than pointing people back home.
Rest in Peace Louise Hay
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