HEART – BRAIN HEALTH 101: Part 2
Aloha and E Komo Mai ~ or Welcome. One of the Hawaiian words a couple of weeks ago was Ohana, so we are saying welcome to the people who are reading the blogs and becoming family, or Ohana, to our Beyond The Limit team.
Being February the Heart health month it is timely that the Heart – Brain awareness story about the heart-brain connects that have grown over the years, be shared. It was 31 years ago that this insight began to unfold and still today grow in greater depth and understanding as to how it can help many people live with health of the heart, with a healthy heart – brain connection.
As we pick up from last week and where we left off, it was from Chapter One of the book Be Not Afraid, Only Believe where the crisis of a near death caused a massive heart – brain connect and shift for a young small family that still today grows, impacts and touches lives across the globe.
Faith, hope and love have been the treasure we have mined and developed. It has certainly been like a refiners fire to purify that precious resource of faith, hope and love. I believe the seeds of a healthy heart-brain connection are found in this treasure!
To continue from last week’s blog, I quote directly from the book:
Be Not Afraid, Only Believe: Chapter Two: No Thanks I Choose Positive:
‘We have run for our very lives to God, I have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go. It’s an unbreakable spiritual lifeline…’
After stepping through those glass doors with the ambo’s and Clint on the trolley, I set eyes on my sister, whose face was wet with tears, that told the story of the shock and distress that a family experiences when they go through a trauma. Aunty and Uncle, Ronnie and Cobber, greeted me with Cobber’s usual warm hello, in a more subdued manner than usual with a warm embrace and ‘Gidday Blossom!’
I felt in a safe place emotionally with their support…..
…..The next day we had the neurologist, cardiologist and head of ICU standing on the other side of the bed to us, as the neurologist delivered a very negative report and prognosis. Which I refused to accept.
…..’from what we see on the EEG and the past 24 hours ….. you will not be taking home the same little boy’. And then came the big blow for us! ‘He will newver walk again, never talk, he will probably never see …..’
I could not remember the rest of the negative delivery because at this stage I just switched off and decided ~ Nope I don’t want to hear any more of that non-sense!’ ….. I leaned over the bed and Clint and said: ‘I don’t care what you think will happen, one day Clint will walk again and talk again, and walk back in here and prove you wrong!’
“Well I hope he does,” answered head of ICU “Kids often make monkeys of us.”
For anyone who knows Clint today, 31 years later he is a walking, talking miracle with his sight restored and an eye for color that shows up in beautiful ways in his floristry arrangements and art work. He is now affectionately know as Mr Clint by the children who have enjoyed his art classes.
MIRACULOUS ~ Yes and so grateful we are as an Ohana for the life restored, healed and forever inspiring to so many of us on this journey with Mr Clint, as we all learn more about the heart-brain connect. His emotional inteligence and ability to connect and engage with people is evidence of that emotional intelligence and the heart-brain connection he has. It has helped so many of us to learn and grow in understanding and wisdom as to how important to our health the heart-brain connection is.
Immensely grateful for the miracle life we have all been blessed to be a part of and very appreciative of the countless hearts and souls along the way that have helped to facilitate the extraordinary moments along the way of this miraculous journey.
I have many of those moments deeply etched in my memory and cells, one day in particular shortly after the negative news given above where I felt the need to encourage a negative and struggling family member…..
“You know if Clint can just make one small step forward each day, imagine how far ahead he can be in a year, 365 small steps of progress.”
I knew how much I needed to speak positively, to help others around us, to see that I really believed in the miracle I prayed for and just wanted support in that. I was encouraged to think where that could take us, Clint in particular: How much closer he would be to regaining his independence.”
It has been such a journey with the Ohana and team of people around us at all times.
The similarity of how we were blessed with the sister, aunty and uncle who were there to meet me at the get go, so very similar to the Ohana we enjoy in Hawai’i. The sisters, brothers, aunties and uncles that make up the Ohana that are a part of our lives moving forward today.
On this Aloha Friday – be encouraged by the quotes from this book for the past two blogs and please consider the positive impact you can have upon another and what a world of difference it makes to you heart health and to the receiver of the blessing.
That Heart- Brain connect is the core of true wholehearted heart health that brings the rich health and abundance in life.
The treasure mentioned above in the blog are the seeds that can grow that healthy heart – brain connection for your heart health. The seeds of faith, hope and love and the best seeds that can ever be watered to grow a rich healthy soil for the heart!
Heart – Brain health and wellness assists one in resilient abundance and adds rich blessing to the soil of relationships. The best investment we ever make is in people, as it grows resilient equity in the heart – brain for such unprecendented times that we live in today.
HAPPY ALOHA FRIDAY – Enjoy your Ohana, celebrate the small things and be grateful for the rich blessings in your life.
Hui Hou – Until we meet again!
Aunty and uncle a respected and valued member of the ohana in hawaii
