It’s easy to be negative in today’s environment, when your job may be on the line and it’s difficult to see light at the end of the tunnel. However, there can be a health cost to that negativity, which is what Michael Morrison discovered in 2006.
“For about ten months in 2006, I had a very heavy workload and I also took on the job of chairman of my local tennis club,” said Michael (31), who also lives with cystic fibrosis. “It took a lot out of me. I was due to go on holidays for two weeks and in the run-up to the holiday any time someone asked me if I was looking forward to it, I said I was going to crash and burn. I said those words repeatedly and I did crash and burn, spending about 15 hours a day in bed during that holiday. And, when I came back, I spent about two months in bed exhausted.”
That brought home to Michael just how powerful words are and he’s put his (positive) thoughts and insights on the transformational power of language into print. His second book, Prisoner of Words (Athena Press), he draws on concepts such as NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), Lamarckian evolution theory, the Biology of Belief, Cell-Level Healing, the power of prayer (in health as well as sickness), the Gaia Hypothesis and Earth Hour to encourage people to create their own reality.
“Everyone has negative thoughts, the thing is not to let them linger,” said Michael. “For me, the big thing is to employ a watchman for my thoughts, and to get into the habit of putting a positive thought back into my mind,” said Michael, who works in the Tuan Health Sanctuary in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford.
“It’s a commitment to consistency and after 21 days, it becomes a habit. We need to look at how we talk to ourselves, becoming aware that our inner chat also has inner demons. We can lower or heighten the intensity of our emotions by the language we use. I’ve also learned to appreciate silence and to take a few minutes every day just to appreciate silence.”
Prisoner of Words is available online through Athena Press, Amazon or Barnes & Noble booksellers.
