Leg Amputation – Where To Find Your Mental Strength?

I really love this quote from Anna Freud, British Psychiatrist:

“I was always looking outside myself for strength and confidence but it comes from within. It is there all the time.”

I like it because to me it says that we already have the strength within us to overcome our challenges, it’s just waiting there for you to access it.  Not only that, but you can apply it to the mental, physical and emotional aspects of the challenges that are set when you undergo a leg amputation.

So what is this strength and how do I access it? This week I’m going to consider the mental side of “the strength within”.

The first thing we have to do is make a conscious decision.  We have to decide we are going to deal with this situation, decide how we are going to do this thing and decide what our outcome is going to be and then focus on making it reality. What we are really doing here is setting goals and making a plan to achieve them.  To go about formulating our plan and achieving our goals we need to:

• Write down our goals to make them real and clear. Give ourselves a time limit for reassessing our progress

• Gather the information you need.  Make good use of the amputee team at your clinic and ask them all your questions

• Consult an expert. A real expert is someone who has already done what you want to do or something similar to it.  So ask to be put in touch with someone like that, generally people like to be of help to others.

• Make the time in your schedule for your action.  To seriously go after a goal you will need to allocate real time for your efforts

• Realize that only you can achieve your goal.  Support people and prosthetic leg/s are there to help but they can’t do it for you.

So harness that strength you have within and get out there and do it.

I know you can… what about you?

Until next time …. Cathy Howells – The Amputee Coach