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Why Not You?
Submitted by: Carolyn Kaufman
Boston, MAHi! I'm a Life Design Coach and I help people use mindset exercises to overcome health challenges and live the life they dream about. I began this work by overcoming my own health issues, which is what led me to The Secret in the first place. Because of the teachings used in The Secret, I've been able to lose over 145 lbs and eliminate the daily debilitating symptoms of my Multiple Sclerosis. From using a cane to hiking mountains, I want to share these tools with anyone suffering like I used to.
I sat on the grass at Machu Picchu and looked out across the mountains. It was absolutely breathtaking. Exactly as the pictures promised. Really, I couldn’t believe I made it.
I felt myself tear up. I never thought I’d be there. Just two years before, I was struggling to walk to the bathroom with a cane. It was the third and second most debilitating relapse of my Multiple Sclerosis (MS), and it was the flare that pushed me to shift my perspective on how I view healing.
Yet, here I was, climbing over rocks. Exploring the beautiful Incan citadel in the middle of the Peruvian jungle, and doing it all completely symptom free. Was I in a parallel universe? How did I go from not being able to feel my right leg to here, in this magical place, almost 8,000 ft above sea level? I’d made the lifestyle changes, I knew that, but why did I finally make the change this time? I reflected on my journey there on the grass and I realized that the only thing that had really changed, was my mind.
My illness had progressed rapidly and instead of dreaming about my future, I started living in a nightmare. My doctors told me the severe daily pain was “normal” with my disease. They offered prescription after prescription with warnings that they may not work because “nerve pain can be tricky”. I felt lost and trapped. Within a few years, my life was consumed by MS. I had a handicap tag and cane before my 25th birthday and I knew, if I didn’t do something immediately, I’d be in a wheelchair before my 30th. Then, in 2014, I lost the feeling on my entire right side. I could barely walk or use my right hand for four months.
I didn’t realize it then, but those four months were a gift. I was on disability and I couldn’t do anything. I didn’t have any obligations, just to rest and heal. I didn’t want to talk to anyone, I didn’t want to talk about it. I just wanted to feel better and I made it my personal mission to make that a reality.
I refocused all of my attention on my goal. I watched inspirational speeches, read motivational blogs and watched transformational instagrams until I believed in my heart that the “impossible” was in fact, very possible. I became my own team mate, telling to myself, “Carolyn, people do amazing things. Why not you?” Why not you became a daily mantra for me and I still use it now. I feel like it’s become an automatic reaction to any challenge now.
I slowed down through deep breathing and started designing my future. I thought about what kind of life I wanted, how it looked and felt. I spent day after day, focusing on deep breathing, and manifesting healing throughout my body.
By the time I booked my ticket to Machu Picchu, my life had changed drastically. In those 2 years, I not only healed my daily symptoms and stopped using my cane, but I lost over 145 lbs and felt better than I ever had in my entire life.
I used the power of my mind, of slowing it down and refocusing my energy to design a life that I loved and to heal my body. It’s now been 4 years and I go symptom free almost every single day. I’ve ridden in a bike marathon, hiked mountains and traveled internationally multiple times.
Now that I feel so much better, I changed my mission to help other people on their journey. I’m a certified Health Coach and I guide people through stress management, self care, and neuro linguistic programming tools to overcome their challenges so they can design a life they love as well. I know it’s possible because if I can get here, anyone else can too. You just have to ask and tell yourself that “People do amazing things every single day, why not you?”.