There is nothing more devastating than being involved in a serious accident that has the potential to have life-changing results. You might think that it’s unlikely you will ever fall foul to this kind of horrendous accident, but the fact is that there’s no way of knowing what the future holds. Life is full of surprises, and sadly, not all of them are nice ones.
One moment you could be riding along on your motorcycle, feeling the wind in your hair; the next you could be on the ground, seriously injured. One minute you could be walking to the salad bar at a restaurant, the next you could slip on some spilt water and fracture your spine.
God forbid you to end up the victim of a nasty injury; it’s important that you understand how vital your approach to healing and mindset is to your progress. Various psychologists have suggested that although there is no conclusive medical evidence to suggest that positivity can speed up the physical healing process, studies have suggested that in cases where mental as well as physical healing is required, a positive approach can be highly valuable.
Bearing that in mind, below are some suggestions to taking a more positive approach to healing and examples of how doing so can be beneficial.
1. Focus on the positives
After you’ve been involved in a serious accident, whether it was an unfortunate motorcycle pile-up or a nasty slip down some wet stairs, it’s hard to focus on the positives. Regardless of whether your injuries will completely heal or they will plague you for life, it’s easy to feel down after a serious accident or injury. However, by taking a more positive approach to things and thinking about the silver lining of what’s happened, such as that you are alive or that you will eventually heal, you can make your road back to full health an easier one. It’s far too easy to focus on the negatives in a situation like this, but if you attempt to stay positive, then you will find that your mental healing comes more quickly, helping you to feel back to your old self again in no time. One of the best ways to stay positive is to embrace the grieving process for whatever you’ve lost as a result of the accident and allow yourself to say goodbye to what could have been. A lot of people find that talking to a counsellor can help, so this could be something that’s worth considering.
2. Look to the future
By taking a more positive approach to healing, you won’t simply focus on what’s happening right now, and the bad situation that you are in. Instead, you will be able to look to the future and focus on what your future will be. Just because your accident has changed things for you doesn’t mean that you can’t have a future. The fact is that if you are willing to adapt to the changes in your circumstances, you can have an amazing future. It’s just a case of taking the time to look to the future and begin to think about what it will hold. Questions that you want to ask yourself are things like: ‘can I return to work or will I need to retrain?’ or ‘will my home need to be adapted or can I return to it?’. The fact is that there will be some hard questions to ask yourself but it’s even more important to be willing to look to the future and start planning your life again. If you take a positive approach to healing, you will find doing so a little bit easier.
3. Heal inside and out
Contrary to popular belief, the healing process after a serious accident isn’t just a physical one. Often, victims of serious or life-changing accidents are left with emotional scars caused by the trauma of what has happened to them. This is a natural part of the healing process, but one that can cause a large amount of emotional pain. It’s almost impossible to heal emotionally if you still harbour bad feelings about what has happened to you. It’s natural to feel anger and resentment at first, feelings that are often followed by a grief-like process, but it’s important to move past these feelings and learn to see the good in the situation. It may not always be easy, but the fact is that if you want to heal inside and out, you need to take a more positive approach to what has happened to you. After all, nothing that you do will change things, so it makes sense to foster a positive attitude.
After a serious or life-changing accident, it’s natural to have a range of mixed feelings. The fact is that no matter what you do or how you feel, you can’t change what’s happened – that’s something vital you have to realise. The only choice is to find a way to be more positive and take steps to move on and build a new life for yourself. It won’t always be easy, but the fact is that if you want to make the most of the life that you have left, you have to move on and be positive about things. Otherwise, you will waste your time being negative and won’t lead a full and happy life. If you need to get help to come to terms with what has happened, it’s essential that you do so. Take your time to get to grips with your injuries and the prognosis that comes with them, but wherever possible, try to remain positive.
