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Cognitive Dissonance X
Affirmative Action

Dealing with the stereotypes, prejudices and attitudinal barriers led me to fight the limitations they placed on me. I also fought the dissonance they produced. Adapting to being a slave was not an option for me. I guess rebelling against the chains came naturally. Suicide was not a way out. I love and revere life. I did not have well-meaning family members who would keep me in protective custody. My wife divorced me. My elderly parents had released me years earlier. I could ‘pass’ as a non-slave. But I was not willing to ignore the plight of other humans.

I found ways to accept or reject the new information brought about by brain injury and related disabilities. I’ve learned to use everything I can to help free myself and others from cultural barriers to freedom and thereby liberty from cognitive dissonance.

Cultural Disempowerment Template
Our culture acts like a template of universally learned behaviors. It shapes behavior and consciousness within our society from generation to generation. It is where we must take action to make positive, lasting change happen.

Language, social organization, values and behavior are critically important elements to cultural systems. To change culture, we need to start by changing language because language is our system of meaning. It defines everything in our world. Words that are loaded with negative beliefs reinforce oppressive attitudes. After working on our language, that is, the way we refer to ourselves, then we can proceed to work on others’ language and social organization, values and behavior.

To fully participate in our society, we need to be able to access the various systems, services and structures available. We need to work through attitudes. We face the values held onto within our culture and must overcome those that oppress us to survive. As I have previously stated, we are up against language used to refer to us, label, and restrict us. We have to overcome derogatory beliefs. If we want to affect change in our culture we need to work through the very real barriers that have been erected within it. It is those barriers that prevent people with disabilities from meeting their basic needs. That restriction acts to oppress people with disabilities and limit their freedom. We already have the power; we only need to realize it and use it. We are not just survivors anymore. In order for us to live full, satisfying, productive lives, we must become Barrier Free.

We need to access and provide ways of communicating and understanding among ourselves that are relevant to the people with disabilities and our situation. Clear communication and understanding across disability groups would make it difficult to suppress us. We would become more organized, confident, and difficult to deceive. This would help us improve innovation in our survival strategies.

In order to help our people realize their barrier breaking power:
• it is crucial that we expand our ability to communicate and
• We need to recognize and understand the barriers to our full participation in society.

We need to become aware of cultural barriers in order to overcome them. We are divided from society by our functional differences and the obstructions that continually interfere in our lives. This is done first by denying resources needed for a self-directed life to people with disabilities, and second, by using the relative monopoly over the media to distribute myths about people with disabilities. The mythology has been handed down along with our culture from an unenlightened age when people with disabilities were locked up or killed. The myths promote an erroneous view of all people in relationship to their abilities, their relationships, and their roles. These myths also reinforce the oppressive beliefs that undermine our abilities and restrict us from meeting our needs. Limiting the realization or satisfaction of our needs causes cognitive dissonance.

The Needs
According to Abraham Maslow, people are the same in their basic human needs. Maslow listed the following needs in his Hierarchy of needs:

• SELF-ACTUALIZATION -the need of self-development; challenge; creativity, the highest level of development.
• SELF-ESTEEM -the need to feel good about ourselves, the need to achieve, to gain approval and recognition, and the need for respect.
• LOVE AND BELONGING -the need to feel a part of some group, to be accepted and loved, need for identity.
• SAFETY /SECURITY -the need to feel secure and safe, need for law and order.
• PHYSIOLOGICAL -the need for food, shelter, clothing, etc. (1)

Each of us prefers to use various means in meeting our needs. The similarities and differences are equally important. The preferred ways for meeting those needs is imbedded in our culture. Those preferences can act as obstructions to people with disabilities meeting their needs or having them met. Not meeting the needs that Maslow outlined causes cognitive dissonance which further undermines our ability to meet our needs. Therefore, we must overcome cultural barriers to help people with disabilities meet their needs and reduce cognitive dissonance and thereby improve their lives.

No Place like Home
The need of self-development is undermined by cognitive impairment. The challenge of self-actualization is set back, in many cases to a point where individuals must relearn basic skills. The set back causes considerable amounts of cognitive dissonance by confronting the person’s ideas about themselves. I have heard over and over again how people want to return to their ‘former’ lives. It seems to me that pride may be at the root of this. And pride always precedes the fall.

Many people lose all sense of creativity after bumping their head. Instead they find themselves being pulled along on the tracks of rehabilitation like a boxcar that cannot be removed from the train. Throughout the trip, others attempt to fill the boxcar with all sorts of things that might never have been a part of the car before it was coupled to the rehab train. This is disempowering. Instead of helping individuals to actualize themselves, the well-meaning pros force the person to accept a predefined package of services. At the same time, deficits are pinpointed and dis-ability is focused on. This reinforces inability by planting, watering and fertilizing it in the mind of the person. Often, the person never wakes up to find that they are already whole, complete and home.

Who am I?
The need to feel good about ourselves is undermined by concentrating on the things that describe our disability. I understand the need to identify problems to create or find solutions. However, in most cases, people would be better served if their abilities were focused on as well.

The scientific process focuses on the problem to develop or affect a solution. This is good. However, when applied to people without an equal reinforcement of abilities, the process undermines the need for people to feel good about themselves.

The need to achieve is turned to re-achieving. In many cases, the need to gain approval is reduced to levels that were surpassed in childhood. For many, childhood feelings come back, causing ever increasing feelings of inadequacy and dissonance. This, when coupled to a lost sense of self, can be devastatingly disempowering.

Without giving people tools to rediscover themselves, we are pumping out robots that walk and talk and act alike in the worst cases. In the best, the person becomes non-compliant, throws off the chains of bondage and becomes free from the restrictive patterns of training. In severe cases, they turn to alcohol and drugs.

A Voice from the Grave
Too many of our people end up dead at the end of a needle or an empty bottle. And more are incarcerated because they cannot navigate the system that is supposed to protect us and them. This is one very painful, ignored reality. Cognitive dissonance, at its worst, kills someone’s kids. And it turns many others into slaves to the rhythm.

The need for recognition and for respect is often not met. In fact, most people are recognized in an adverse manner and disrespected by family, former friends and lovers, people selling medical and rehab services, colleagues, employers, classmates, teachers, administrators and the list goes on. This one aspect of survival causes countless numbers of people to dive into destructive behaviors to escape the pain.

The person finds themselves belonging to a different group of people. They find themselves caught between a rock and a hard place. The need to feel a part of some group they previously belonged to becomes a driving motivation. Fitting in is so vitally important to us humans that we crave it like addicts crave substances that promise to take them away from the misery while at the same time perpetuating it.

Instead of being welcomed with open arms, individuals who survive brain injury often find themselves being shunned and cast aside. What prevents integration is not the inability of people with disabilities to adapt but the inability of society to accept them. Some become obsessed with returning to their former associations, cliques, organizations, schools, employment etc. and their recovery progress is delayed or impeded by the rejection they face and the pained state of mind caused by the rejection.

The need to be accepted and loved by the people in their life is often met with resistance and causes substantial amounts of cognitive dissonance. The need for identity drives many to the point of despair as they attempt to fit back into their former lives without success. This undermines the need to feel secure and safe because it causes the person to feel disconnected from the basic sources of security that once existed in their lives. When coupled with reduced inhibition and impulsivity, any group can become acceptable. For people with cognitive impairments, death can be the end of this road. It troubles me greatly that this topic is generally ignored.

Safe and Secure
Oftentimes, disability puts a person at risk of danger and limits their ability to access or navigate the legal remedies available to people who are not yet experiencing disability. The full sense of the need for law and order is overlooked in the rehabilitation process as it does not apply directly to a particular set of medical criteria. Yet this aspect of the human condition can mean the difference between living and dying, freedom and incarceration.

The Providers
Brain injury often undermines the person’s ability to provide for themselves and others. The ability to provide food, shelter and clothing is weakened to the degree that the person’s cognitive abilities are affected. For those who have established provider roles in their lives pre-injury, this can cause terrifying results that upset everything in the person’s life.

It is an established fact that more young men sustain brain injuries than any other group. In our culture, men have traditionally been the primary providers for their families. This role has been imbedded in the minds of young men. Brain injury impacts their ability to provide for themselves and families. This fact must be addressed if they are to overcome dissonance and live satisfying lives.

My Struggle
I was 25 when the drunk hit me with his car. By age forty, I wanted relief from the suffering. I could not seem to figure out a way to get the reprieve I so desperately wanted. I felt as if I was in a shrinking box. I didn’t think I could or would find a way out of my despair. Even though I could pass as non-disabled, that fact was a detriment in many ways. I never “looked” like I was disabled and that was used against me everywhere, especially within the court system when my ex-wife used it to her advantage. My disability was not considered in relationship to my ability to provide for my family. A series of circumstances beyond my control had cumulatively wiped out my income sources.

Seeing
Like most people, my thinking was influenced and shaped by cultural traditions. Society had (in many ways) determined the way that I viewed the world that I was living in. My previously held beliefs, values and attitudes were working against me from within. To get past the barriers to living peacefully, I needed to shift my way of thinking. This contradiction was the very thing that was prohibiting me from making the change. And overcoming this paradox was a serious challenge.

I prayed: God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference. Like the scarecrow, tin man, and the lion in the timeless movie classic, The Wizard of Oz, I couldn’t think clearly, I was unable to love and was full of anxiety and fear. I frequently asked for peace, courage and wisdom. Like Dorothy, I also wanted to go back to the comfort of my previous life. And like those fictional characters, I already possessed the qualities that I prayed for and I was already home. I only needed to realize my persona and open my eyes to see that I never left. Getting to a comfortable place seemed to be far out of my grasp, but I was able to reach it by overcoming the negative thought soldiers that were stationed in my mind. It took a process of deliberate, affirmative action.

The Beginning of Affirmative Action
Throughout my journey post brain injury, I had many authoritative people pointing out to me what I was not able to do. Others I respected told me that I should or should not do certain things. And still others tried to convince me that I would never be able to do particular things. All of this focus on my inabilities and disability caused the pained state of mind that Leon Festinger first called cognitive dissonance.

The obsession with inability built battalions of disabling thought soldiers that automatically, immediately defended these positions upon the intrusion of life affirming, ability focused thinking. That was more disabling than the cognitive impairment caused by the physical insult to my brain. Simply because whenever I would have a thought that contradicted something that was planted in me by the rehab scientists, dissonance would occur as the negative thoughts rose up in defense of the ‘authoritative’ position. Nevertheless, the dissonance and disabling condition it caused did not stop me. I continued to seek relief.

I was tired of thinking about the things I was not able to do or be. As I continued my odyssey, early one morning, I decided to list the things that I believed myself to be and the things that I was able to do. I began writing while I was soaking in a hot water bath to relieve physical pain. I knew that I wanted to change my life, my circumstances and the situations that I was experiencing.

I began with:

• I am a man.
• I am a husband.
• I am a father.
• I am a son.

I called these my ‘I am’ statements. I continued writing assertions until the water got cold. I knew I was on to something good. It felt good to write and then read the sentences, ideas, assertions, declarations and statements that pointed to the things or concepts that said ‘I am’ instead of ‘I’m not.’ This writing exercise was the beginning of my conscious battle against cognitive dissonance.

The idea of writing down all of my ‘I am’ statements occurred to me long ago. Yet, as with many other ideas that I have had, I procrastinated. Now I am able to recognize that fear was stopping me. What was I afraid of? Failure.

Here I was though, writing with fervor. I wanted and needed to see it in writing. I had value and I was ‘able.’ Here was written proof. There is something about seeing affirmative statements about oneself in print. I believe it triggers a positive chemical reaction to occur within the brain. And it feeds the conscious mind with the type of food it needs to thrive! Planting positive seeds in our mind brings forth a beautiful garden of positive thoughts that impact us and the world around us.

This process eventually helped me to meet my needs. It was a serious challenge to turn my focus away from the negatives others were continuously pointing me to and look at positive aspects of my life. I needed to develop my ‘picture’ of myself like a photographer develops film and photos.

The Development
As a teen and young adult, I was fascinated with capturing images with black and white film. I had a little darkroom where I’d develop the film and photos. I learned how to apply chemical solutions to the plastic film and the photographic paper to ‘develop’ it. It amazed me to see the images slowly appear on the paper. The image was already captured there. It took a certain deliberate process to develop the picture.

In my case, the post-injury development process began in DT Watson’s rehab labs. The rehab scientists there began the process by selling me speech therapy, cognitive retraining, and psychological counseling. They applied the solutions that they believed would be capable of ‘developing’ my abilities and ‘fix’ me. They did what they could to start the process; I continue in the process of developing.

One of the turning points in my development was when I started writing out the ‘I am” affirmations. These were true affirmations of who John Pistorius is in this world. They were not cookie-cutter lies that someone else sold me. The writing exercise helped me to gain a deeper understanding of the person that had existed pre-injury, emerged from the injury and the many processes that took place post-injury. It has helped me to realize who I really am by helping to unpeel and break through the layers of conditioning I had accumulated throughout my life.

Like a caterpillar that emerges from a cocoon as a butterfly, we develop to reveal our true selves through a process. Other’s play roles in our development. I believe that each of us can take control of the process and deliberately overcome barriers to our full enjoyment of life, with or without disability.

In some cases, to overcome dissonance, we need to let go of outcomes and experience life like water flowing in a stream. Go with the flow. Do not resist. Then we can live and be and develop who we really are, instead of conforming to some image of what others believe or want us to be. I received a greeting card once that had the following message inside: “Wherever you are is exactly where you need to be!” I resisted that message for a very long time until I realized that it is true.

I believe it is the same for everyone. Who we really are is who we really are. Where we are is the direct effect of our thought life. Our development process reveals who we are. Our thoughts act like the developer solution. They reveal the inner person. Our experiences help to shape our thoughts and thereby influence the development of our true persona.

Developer, How it Works
I needed to feel good about myself and the affirmative writing exercise gave me evidence that bolstered good feelings. I was able to see my achievements and where I had received approval, recognition, and respect.

I could also see and feel where I belonged as part of various groups. I was able to see that I was accepted and loved. And my identity became clearer to me.

Part of my writing showed me that I live in the safest country on God’s green earth. As a law abiding citizen, I was able to feel secure and safe.

In my writing, I became grateful for the many things that I overlooked in my life. All of my physiological needs were being met. I had an abundance of food. I had adequate shelter and I had more clothes than I needed.

All of this revealed the reality that I was Ok.

The Development Process
While writing, at first all of the obvious things came to mind. Then, as I worked the pen and tablet the ideas that sprang forth changed. My perception of myself was revealed by my inner mind. My written statements became emotional and then more spiritual. Some of my proclamations were in conflict with others that I had written. I did not let that stop me. I wrote these declarations every day for weeks.

As I continued this process, the following found their way to the paper:

• I am willing and able to learn new things.
• I can change my life exponentially.
• I can see people’s needs and meet their needs.
• I can see the abundance around me in my life.
• I am peaceful & calm.

Although I wasn’t aware of it at the time, this exercise was opening the gate to my thought garden to plant thoughts that would help me overcome the many struggles that plagued me at the time. I started thinking that this experiment might change my life forever. Once I accepted that it might work, I was able to accept that it could work. As soon as I accepted that it could work, I began to believe that it would. After I accepted that it would work, I started seeing evidence that it did work.

I wanted to be free from limiting beliefs, ideas thoughts and patterns. I needed to free myself from the dungeon that my disabling thought soldiers had me locked in. This method began the process of unlocking the gate to my thought garden where I was able to dig in, plant, water and fertilize positive, life affirming ideas.

Starting this activity was the beginning of my relief. I managed to overcome despair. I wrote out my current situation. I laid out a plan of affirmative action. The most important part of this work has been building a workable plan of deliberate dialog. This enhanced and improved my thoughts, ideas, attitudes, perceptions and prejudices about my life. It has been liberating, to say the least. I’ve lived it. I believe my experience has taught me that almost anyone can do it by deliberate application of truth.

I managed to improve my thinking which helped me to feel better. Feeling better helped me loosen the grip that anxiety had on me. Less anxiety meant more creativity. By utilizing my creative skills I have been able to maximize my potential. At this stage, maximizing my potential has helped me clear my mind, learn to let go of outcomes and accept the things that are out of my control. I have received an answer to my prayers.

In retrospect I can say that unlocking my ability to change began with that simple writing exercise in the bath tub. It removed roadblocks and opened an avenue for shifting paradigms.

I truly believe it’s an excellent idea for anyone to free write thoughts and statements that they can call up. I highly recommend that you sit down in a quiet place, get yourself relaxed and free write your thoughts about yourself.

Even if you can not relax, just get the words, statements or phrases written or typed out. It doesn’t matter what they are at first, just get them out. Do not edit as you write. Disregard any errors in spelling and grammar. Regardless of your frame of mind, write! Maintain your focus on the task of writing without regard to errors. Write out every thought that occurs to you, be they positive or negative. Focus on writing out the ideas as fast as they occur to you. Practice this exercise if you really want to learn about yourself in a way that you might not ever be able to otherwise.

This writing exercise can free your mind from some of the bindings that hide there. I know that it was the beginning of my freedom.

I have released myself from the mental prison that I held myself captive in. I learned that I was the jail keeper. I held the keys to my release. I taught myself that I was the governor and I gave myself a pardon. I began to lovingly repeat these ideas over and over to build my new subconscious director. Like the little dog Toto in the Wizard of Oz, I pulled back the curtain that the fraudulent wizard was hiding behind. Once this revelation took place, I knew that I had the keys to freedom. My mental emancipation from my disabling thought soldiers’ prison has proven to be the beginning of my positive, life changing transformation.

Affirmative Action Steps
Once you get all of your ideas onto the paper, you can edit for grammar, spelling and sentence structure if you wish. It is not necessary for everyone, but if you are compelled to do it, go on and satisfy yourself. Then review the statements.

As you review, mark the negative statements for future reference. Rewrite the positive declarations onto another tablet or separate document. You will use these statements to create your own unique positive affirmations about yourself.

Now you are ready to take affirmative action! Rewrite the negative statements in a positive manner. For example: I had a statement that was negative about my weight. I had written “I’m overweight.” I changed it to read:

“I currently weigh more than my optimum weight, however, I am beginning to apply strategies for reducing my calorie intake and I am learning to choose more activities that burn additional calories thereby I am able to reduce my weight.”

I wrote it as specific as possible because I needed to. Then I used this statement as food for my mind. I know that the rewritten statement is long. I reduced it as my waist line decreased. In the beginning, each statement should be as specific as possible to insure no loopholes for the negative thought soldiers to weasel in and steal your effectiveness. They might not need to be as long as mine, but they must accurately, truthfully convey the counter-message.

In my affirmative action plan, I created other phrases that complimented the first. I have created many statements and recorded them for repeated use and sharing with others. When eating, I am learning to be satisfied automatically, immediately as soon as I have consumed enough calories to maintain healthy body function. Regardless of what your thought soldiers are telling you, this statement can be true for you if you shoot down the enemy thoughts.

You must first be willing. Then you will see that you are able.

After getting through the lengthy specific statements, I could accept shorter ones. I have learned to eat less and do more. That’s the only way to lose weight anyway. Consume less calories and burn more of the ones you have stored as fat. Converting fat to glucose can be enjoyable. Too often though, we overlook the underlying cause of obesity-our body is craving nutrients. Supplementation can help in this respect too.

The Paradox
I was faced with a contradiction in terms during the process of writing affirmations for myself. I learned something through the course of freeing my mind with the statements I was writing. I didn't believe all of them! I wanted to believe them, yet some of these statements were not completely true.

While it was true that “I wanted to be able to see past the moment that I was living in and currently experiencing,” sometimes I was not able to do it. I was not always willing or able to see the abundance around me. While I was learning to use my power statements every day to help me see past the lack thoughts that were strongly influencing my outlook, I knew that I could not accept a statement if it was untrue.

Sometimes all I could see was the lack because I was programmed to focus on it. Due to many unforeseen circumstances beyond my control, I lost every source of income. The piles of bills were constant reminders of my lack of income. I could not accept a statement about financial security if it did not ring true.

An unaccepted affirmation was worthless. I was unwilling to waste my time. I wanted and needed to be honest with myself, lying was unacceptable. It seemed as if a part of me wanted to succumb to the ‘victim’ mentality. Yet a greater part of me wanted to be free from the limits that my unconscious debilitator was placing on my existence. I needed to find a way to be honest while planting positive thoughts, ideas, statements and affirmations in my mind. I was determined to find a way.

Breaking the Barrier
I began modifying my affirmative statements by using these phrases:

• I am beginning to,
• I am starting,
• I am learning and
• I want,
• I need and
• I desire.

Now I hit it! I could honestly say that I was learning. I could believe that I was beginning. I could affirm my needs. It was true that I desired to learn, grow, expand, or experience things.

Now I found a method of affirming the truth. I knew that I could make true statements or affirmations accepted by my subconscious mind. I learned how to get these ideas, beliefs, affirmations, and instructions for a better life past the guard at the gate of my subconscious mind and into the depths of my psyche.

I learned as I progressed with this project that I hit certain stumbling blocks. How could I overcome my subconscious unwillingness to continue this? Deep in my mind were very old programs of thought debilitating soldiers that had been planted to undermine my success. I had to identify them or create a plan to overcome them as they arose.

I created statements that included the words ‘automatically’ and ‘immediately.’ I also would refer forward or back in my collection to specific thoughts to assist me when I needed reinforcement to overcome any particular patterns or areas of stubborn resistance. Sometimes the battalions of thought soldiers have back-up.

Another thing that I began to realize is that our mind is an automatic recording-playback tool. I believe that even with brain injury, everything that goes in is recorded. However, it may not be able to be expressed outwardly because of recall failure. The failure to consciously recall does not necessarily mean that the thoughts are not stored and working from within. It only reflects the condition of the part of the brain used for recalling. However, often because of an inability to attend to things, the information is not stored. I’ve seen rigorously programmed individuals only express what they have been trained to express. My father is a Marine.

It seemed to me that we could change the input and the output would automatically immediately change. These revelations lead me to create even more affirmative action statements.

You Can!
As I have explained, I have experienced the depths of despair. It may seem impossible to you at first as it did for me. But I am learning to use my inner power to express my true inner self to create my new external reality. You can too. You will see that you are the driver. You have the power to direct your life from the inside out. With a very small amount of faith you can move mountains. Ever see a mustard seed? With faith the size of one, you can do anything in this life.

I am starting to understand that I own my thoughts. My thoughts control my destiny in this life. So do yours. You have all you need to accomplish this task. We all do. I must tell you that I am certain! There is no doubt in my mind now. I removed it with deliberate, direct instructions. You can too.

Thoughts create feelings which motivate actions and lead to results. If you are unhappy with the results, change the thoughts.

I am overcoming the barriers that remain in my life with a process of thorough, deliberate thought planting and self-conditioning. And I feed myself various nutrients that give my brain what it needs to run.

During my rehabilitation, long before I started the process of writing out affirmative statements, I rejected any ideas that were not productive to me. I was not going to permit myself to be disabled. I was ‘able,’ and I planned to prove it. This is what the professionals call ‘denial’ and ‘inappropriate’. I was labeled ‘one tracked’.

During one of the many cognitive retraining sessions that I attended, a rehab scientist selling me speech therapy condescendingly told me that I had to remember that I was slower now. I asked her if she was saying that I was ‘retarded’ she said “no” but that my thought processes were slower than before the accident. She also told me not to expect immediate improvement or total recovery. I was labeled ‘mildly aphasic.’ That is, I was unable to articulate my ideas into words. I had a word finding problem. I had a great difficulty with carrying on a conversation. I couldn’t write. I was unable to read. I couldn’t concentrate.

Agitation, memory loss, reduced capacity for concentration, short term memory problems, inability to transfer from short term to long term memory, and the myriad other thinking skills problems left me isolated in many respects.

I began volunteering with the National Head Injury Foundation (NHIF) in 1984. This organization gave me a way to gain understanding of brain function and cognition. I volunteered on many projects and committees. I rallied support for the people that sustained impairments from brain injury. I was elected president of the local chapter in 1989 and I was elected to the state board of directors in 1990. I became involved with the National Survivors Council of the NHIF and I spent some time aiding the organization of persons who survived. We called ourselves ‘survivors’ as a positive label for society. All of my volunteer efforts helped me to realize my abilities to overcome my disability.

Brain injury can affect a person physically, cognitively, and emotionally. However, it does not mean that a person is less valuable than others. One of my deepest issues is the unmasking of the falsehood of negative connotations which are associated with Brain Injury.

Maybe I’ve experienced a miraculous recovery. I don’t think so. Maybe my obstinacy gave me the drive to exceed all projections and expectations, even in the face of great odds and obstacles. Or maybe I’ve figured out something that works. You decide. In any case, I’ve lived, breathed and overcome the many facets of Cognitive Dissonance. I believe that you can too.

Now I can say that I am confident in my ability to articulate ideas into meaningful statements that accurately convey messages in a way that is clear, concise and easy to understand. I can combine words and phrases to help others in their recovery.

I never gave up hope for a meaningful recovery. I’ve upgraded my idea of ‘meaningful’ over the years. I thank all of the professionals, the Brain Injury Association (BIA), and my friends and family members that have helped me along the way.

I could have chosen to accept my plight. I could have resigned myself to remaining a victim. I could have accepted my inabilities. I could have used my disability as an excuse for my failures. I could have sold out for a check. Instead, I chose to resist the debilitation. I decided to fight back. I wanted to overcome the deficits that restricted my abilities. I wanted to teach myself to progress in a positive manner toward recovery.

At first, I didn’t know that I was in control of my thoughts. I was not aware of my thoughts controlling my internal director. Nor was I able to understand that my internal director was in control of me. Much less did I comprehend that all of this sequence was controlling my destiny.

Now I know.

1. Adapted from Boeree, C. G. Personality Theories. Shippensburg University Psychology Department http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/maslow.html

Next Time: Cognitive Dissonance XI Declaration of Independence

-Peace to you.

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