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Ever felt lost or overwhelmed dealing with health issues and wished for a personal guide to help you through?

In this episode of Wellbeing Interrupted, we dive into the true essence of Hurdle2Hope®. It's not just a name – it's a crucial guide for anyone grappling with significant health issues. 

The Hurdle2Hope® Roadmap is designed to ignite a healing mindset, equipping you to confidently face the challenges and complexities of serious health conditions. 

Join Teisha Rose, as she shares her own journey with multiple sclerosis and stage four breast cancer, demonstrating the transformative impact of Hurdle2Hope® in real life. 

Loved this episode? Share your thoughts and reflections on Instagram and tag us @Hurdle2Hope. Your stories inspire and fuel our community.

Key Episode Takeaways

● Understanding Hurdle2Hope® as a crucial tool for managing life-changing illnesses.

● The Hurdle2Hope® Roadmap’s role in fostering strength, empowerment, and resilience.

● Shifting the focus from battling illness to personal growth and development.

● The transformative power of adopting the right mindset in the face of adversity.

EPISODE 2 TRANSCRIPT

Wellbeing Interrupted Intro

Welcome to Well-being Interrupted, the podcast dedicated to exploring the transformative power of a healing mindset. I'm Teisha Rose, your host and the founder of Hurdle2Hope®. If you're on a quest to not just survive but thrive after a life-changing diagnosis, then you're definitely in the right place.

Living with MS and now stage four breast cancer has taught me a vital lesson. In the face of a life-changing illness, our mindset is everything. Each week I'll share insights, tips, and strategies to help you build a happier, healthier, more balanced life.

Introduction to Episode Two

Welcome to episode two of Well-being Interrupted. In these first few episodes, it's a bit of an introduction. In episode one, you learned more about me, plus the three ways that have helped me manage the complete overwhelm of a stage four breast cancer diagnosis, plus all the challenges that come with MS.

And now in episode two, I want to share more about my business Hurdle2Hope®, which the Wellbeing Interrupted podcast is part of. As you'll discover, Hurdle2Hope® is so much more than a name. It's my lifeline in living with two life-altering illnesses. And it is my hope that Hurdle2Hope® can become your lifeline as well.

And again, just quickly, apologies if my voice quality isn't great throughout the whole podcast. As I explained last week, this is the sound of trauma. I experienced muscle tension dysphonia after the year I experienced with cancer and MS, but I didn't want that to stop me from sharing my insights with you.

The Essence of Hurdle2Hope®

Hurdle2Hope® is definitely more than a name. It's not a catchphrase and it's definitely not a superficial brand. Hurdle2Hope® is the very framework that I've built and I live by. So when people say to me how do you do it? How do you cope with living with MS? And now add to that stage four breast cancer. And as I reflect on those questions, it is this Hurdle2Hope® roadmap that I'll chat to you about. This is the reason why I can cope with so many challenges that keep coming my way with two illnesses, but why I can still embrace and enjoy life.

You see, with Hurdle2Hope®, I feel like I've got my own personal mindset guide that helps me navigate every challenge that comes my way. So those insights I shared in episode one, that came from the Hurdle2Hope® roadmap. I used those insights to help me deal with the absolute stress and fear I experienced when diagnosed with stage four breast cancer. It's also helped me get through all of those medical tests we have to do, waiting for test results, sitting in doctors' offices, dreading what we're gonna be told.

And why it's such a help and why it's become so important to me is that when you're in the midst of living through a really stressful time with your illness, when everything is so full-on, when your thoughts are going everywhere, when you don't know how you're gonna get through the next hour, let alone the next day, week, or month. That is when Hurdle2Hope® becomes an absolute lifeline, as it will shine a light on your next step.

Origin of Hurdle2Hope®

Okay, so I want to give you a bit of background as to where Hurdle2Hope® came from. Way back in 2015, I promised myself that by the time I turned forty, which I did in 2015, that I would have a book published. And I wrote my book, "Life Interrupted: My Journey from Hurdle to Hope." And as I was preparing to write my book, I started reflecting on the years of living with MS. And during those years, I went through some incredibly dark times, especially in the first ten years. I had so many aggressive relapses, which were becoming more frequent. I spent weeks and months at times in hospital, paralysed, unable to move. Absolutely terrified about what my future would be.

It was in 2012 when I had my last MS relapse, so it's been inactive for over a decade now, which is amazing. But I realised how different that stay in hospital was. On the surface, to everyone else, it probably seemed the same. I had difficulties in walking, I was in a wheelchair. I went through the treatment in hospital. I also had vision impairment. I went to rehab, I learned how to walk again. But behind the scenes, I felt so different. As I sat in the wheelchair, as I lay in the hospital ward, I no longer felt like a disease. I no longer felt defined by MS. And I had this inner confidence that I'd get through this relapse. And I was actually excited about getting through it because I was excited about my future.

So as I was preparing for writing my book, I knew in my book I wanted to share my story, but I wanted to add a different depth to it as well. And that probably came from having worked as a social worker, from having studied social work, but also my degree in psychology. I really wanted to get to the core of why my experience was so different.

So I still remember sitting on our recliner at home and reflecting on my life with MS. And I started scribbling down some thoughts. And then this acronym appeared on my page. It was health, and I couldn't believe that health encapsulated the six stages I had navigated through since being diagnosed with MS. I'll quickly read from my book what each of these stages are just so you start in the sense of this Hurdle2Hope® roadmap. I'll also put in the show notes a copy of the stages and the Hurdle2Hope® roadmap so you can actually grab your copy and know what I'm talking about when I refer to health and also the Hurdle2Hope® roadmap. And again apologies for my voice, but as I explained in episode one, this is the result of all the trauma I went through last year.

 Stages of H.E.A.L.T.H.

• Hurdle: MS was definitely an enormous obstacle that interrupted my life. Then each subsequent relapse, next new symptom, represented a new hurdle, a new challenge to overcome.
• Engagement: As the relapses became more aggressive and frequent, my life was increasingly dominated by my illness. I was becoming consumed with this disease, oh it's reading information, becoming preoccupied with my body's functioning, experiencing relapses, hospital stays, recovering from the relapses, and then fearing the next interruption.
• Agitation: I was frustrated when MS made living my life at times impossible. Every day was becoming filled with negative energy. I didn't know how to break the cycle of poor health and agitation.
• Letting go: Traveling, moving to a country town, and studying social work helped prioritise what was important in my life. I was unable to release aspects of my life that were contributing to frustration and negative energy.
• Taking time: Confused as to why I was still experiencing relapses, I took time to focus inwardly. MS became a vehicle for personal growth. I began to reflect and learn from the insights I'd gained on my journey. Finally,
• Hope: My life was no longer defined by MS. I was able to find joy in my everyday life and a genuine excitement about a future filled with unimaginable possibility.

Response to the Book and Creation of Hurdle2Hope® Roadmap

The feedback from my book was amazing. And what motivated me to create what is now known as the Hurdle2Hope® roadmap is that readers wanted to apply these insights to their own lives. And so Hurdle2Hope® was born. So, what is this Hurdle2Hope® roadmap? I believe in the power of the Hurdle2Hope® roadmap so much, that I actually went through the process of getting Hurdle2Hope® registered. At the time I was putting the final touches on the Hurdle2Hope® roadmap, I was actually working as an auditor within the disability sector. So not an accounting auditor, but in a role where I bought my social work experience to. I talked to clients with disabilities about what their experiences were with different services. And while I was in this role, I kept thinking that there are all of these business plans to guide decision-making for an organisation. But when we experience a massive risk to our own personal well-being, such as the diagnosis of a new illness, then where is the guide for our thought process there? I couldn't find one. I needed one. So I created one.

You see, Hurdle2Hope® is about laying out a clear strategy and providing you with the tools you need to create momentum and move forward. I know all too well how vital this is when you're feeling lost, when you're stressed, or in the dark, when you're trying to figure out how to keep moving forward. The irony is that I had just finalised the roadmap and started putting together an online course for others living with MS. And in that week before I was about to launch, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I find it quite ironic because I kept thinking this roadmap, Hurdle2Hope®, applies to people living with MS absolutely. But it's so much bigger than that. I knew it could help others living with any type of illness. And over the past two years, I've relied on all the insights on this roadmap to guide me through the greatest challenge of my life, and it works.

Hurdle2Hope® Roadmap Explained

Okay, so I want to give you a visual as to how this roadmap works. You can get your copy in the show notes, so it will make a bit more sense. But for now, I want you to think of a set of traffic lights. Red is the crisis. Your life as you know it has come to a standstill. It's your diagnosis, new symptoms, a new prognosis, or recovery. You are stressed and overwhelmed. The key here is to create an environment where you are able to harness your strength. Next, you're faced with the orange light. You're experiencing emotional turmoil, increasingly consumed by frustration and negative energy. You hate the way your illness is impacting every aspect of your life. At this point, you need to make a choice. Do you hit the brakes and stay stagnant, or do you keep moving forward? The key here is to shift your focus away from your illness and onto you. You need to regain your power. Then comes the green light. You are moving forward into a changed world. And if you want to cruise ahead, you need to be prepared to challenge how you think about and experience your illness and your life. The good news is that if you continue to learn and grow, if you continue to evolve, then you'll start to build your resilience. You'll discover new strengths and experience unimagined possibilities. There's no denying it, in living with a life-altering illness, your life is filled with uncertainty. But instead of sitting in fear, anticipating the next interruption, the Hurdle2Hope® roadmap allows you to start looking forward with confidence.

So that's a really quick overview, and everything I share on Wellbeing Interrupted will relate to the three lights, the three areas or zones of the Hurdle2Hope® roadmap. It's all about creating the mindset that enables you to live well with your illness, by learning how to harness your strength to get through the crisis, to regain your power so you can navigate through emotional turmoil, but then to build your resilience. And this is the silver lining because this enables you to cope with whatever comes your way, to deal with the unknown future we all have.

Moving forward with Wellbeing Interrupted

So where to from here? Wellbeing Interrupted will be all about helping you create the right mindset, so you really can embrace life regardless of what illness you have. Life will never be the same once you're diagnosed with your illness, but that's okay. Mine has changed so much, first with all the challenges of MS, and now living with stage four breast cancer. But as we enter 2024, I know I'm so excited about what next year will bring. And that sounds strange to say out loud because I don't know what challenges will happen in relation to my cancer or MS, but I'm excited about other aspects of my life. For me, that includes a very unexpected purchase we made last year of a hundred acres of land, or as I like to call it, an oasis for my healing. And I'm so excited about that. And who knows what will happen with my cancer or with MS, but I'm going to keep visualizing good health, and I'm going to do everything I can to keep looking after myself. And I wonder what unimagined possibility awaits you in 2024.

So stay tuned for our next episode, as it's all about mindset. I want to delve into this a bit more deeply, so you really know what I'm referring to when I say mindset is everything.

Outro

Thank you so much for joining me today on Well-being Interrupted. If today's episode inspired you or you think it could help others, please share it by tagging @Hurdle2Hope® in your Instagram stories or just by telling a friend about it, to spread our message of healing and hope to those who need it. Your ratings and reviews are invaluable. By taking a moment to rate and review on your listening platform, you help us attract inspiring guests and create content that empowers all of us to thrive. Don't forget to follow me on @Hurdle2Hope® for more insights. I'd love to see you there. Always remember, to thrive after a life-changing diagnosis, your mindset is everything.