3 Game Changing Lessons I Learned While Confined To One Room For Five Years

Game changing experiences do just that, they change you. After Environmental Illnesses forced me into complete isolation and stripped my world bare of every familiarity I had ever known, my life was unrecognisable.

However, it was during the toughest days, I learned the most powerful of lessons. Lessons about courage and faith and about what it means to be the best version of yourself possible. Confined to one room for five years, here are the three most profound, game changing lessons I learned that transformed my outlook on life forever.

 

You are not your circumstances

Up to my earlobes in challenging circumstances and struggling with horrible physical symptoms every day, I had to dig deep in order to locate a greater version of myself than the unmistakable reality I saw around me. But with courage and relentless pursuit, I searched for a new definition of me and this is what I discovered.

My true value as a human being has absolutely nothing to do with the circumstances of my life.

Whatever I go up against …whatever squeezes the life juice out of me, or tests me or weighs me down … that is not who I really am.

The REAL me …My TRUE IDENTITY, cannot permanently be tethered by anything. This unchangeable, unlimitable, deep down in my core, omnipotent me … stretches way beyond the boundaries of physicality. Beyond circumstance, pain, mountainous barricades, heartbreaking loss or seemingly unconquerable setbacks. Nothing can ever snuff that light out.

My personal ‘A-Ha’ moment? – when I finally understood the truth about my own unique spark and how it could never ever be defined by the four walls I called home.

 

You must do the thing you think you cannot do

I spent a large chunk of my early life feeling less than everyone else. Health challenges only fuelled my already low self esteem. I felt broken by my life story and as a result, lost total faith in myself. I backed away from anything which made me feel uncomfortable, including the goals which looked way too big for me to tackle. My greatest hope, was to survive through each day.

But here’s the game changing secret.

When I reached BEYOND what I thought was possible for me and for my life. Beyond the self doubt and the mental boundaries built within the limitations of my own mind. When I attempted to do the things I thought I could never do, when I reached THERE, went ALL IN, I discovered I was actually capable of some pretty amazing things after all.

This realisation not only changed my trajectory forever, but I acquired a new level of courage, conviction and indestructible self belief that transformed the way I saw the world and how the world saw me.

This lesson can only be realised firsthand. It can only be fully understood and embodied by walking through THAT fire, climbing THAT mountain, attempting THAT seemingly impossible thing.

When you do the thing you think you cannot do and discover firsthand that actually you ARE capable of a whole lot more than you thought you were … that gift, will heal all self-deprecating wounds of the past. That gift, will see you accomplish your dreams. It will take you to your best you.

 

Gratitude changes everything

I remember very clearly how I felt the first time I was able to sit outside with my feet on the ground and the sky above my head after a multi-year hiatus. I remember the day I was driven to the end of the street and saw trees and houses and other people. Real people, just going about their lives. I remember my first shower after months of being bathed from a bucket next to my bed. I remember the day when I hugged one of my friends for the first time after LITERALLY 1000 days of imagining what that would feel like.

The kind of gratitude you feel in moments like those … is full-body, life-altering and completely unforgettable. Moments like those, leave an indelible mark on your Soul, cause you to smile uncontrollably and whisper under your breath at every opportunity … thank you. A thousand times, thank you.

 

Game changing moments do just that, they change you. But if you look for the powerful, life altering lessons contained within them, I believe these moments, however difficult they may be, will always change you for the better.