InfoWOW 9 – The WOW Effect With Yourself (part 2)

Welcome to the 9th edition of InfoWOW!

You will find:

Three words that lowered my anxiety by 90% and brought peace of mind
A reading recommendation to achieve greater serenity
An inspiring and touching video

Three words that lowered my anxiety by 90% and brought peace of mind

Just for today - Jasmin Bergeron - Keynote Speaker

A few years ago, I escaped death. I went into respiratory arrest (I didn’t breathe for 8 minutes) which caused cardiac arrest, which then caused my kidneys, liver and stomach to collapse. I spent a month in a coma, then two months on dialysis treatment (which includes spending six hours every two days watching your blood pass through pipes). I had to learn to walk again because I was in bed too long and my legs weren’t moving. I also had to relearn how to eat because my clapper no longer distinguished between air and water (and the doctors told me that was important 😊). As I was not breathing, I had a tracheostomy and I breathed through a tube in my neck for 4 months. Is it joyful as a context? 😀

Long story short, I had several panic attacks in the process. With a hole in my throat, I had to say goodbye to my professional passions as a keynote speaker and as a teacher. With dialysis treatments every 48 hours (I was told it would probably be for life), I said goodbye to travel and the majority of my projects. Then I thought of the impact on my daughters, whom I love from the bottom of my heart. In short, paralyzed with fear, the panic attacks of 2-3 hours multiplied in the hospital bed.

Then three words changed my life: Just for today.

I made the decision to live the rest of my life “Just for today”. After all, the past and the future are… illusions. Think about it, what percentage of the scenarios you tell yourself actually happen? 5%? 10% at most? What is anxiety? It’s believing in scenarios that most of the time will never come true. Then with high anxiety, we harm the lives of others… and above all, ours! Living “Just for today” is a path to greater peace of mind. Do you agree with the following sentence?

The more you take care of today, the easier tomorrow will be.

Since my accident, I wake up every morning saying to myself “Just for today”… and I will do it until I die. It makes life so much easier! For example, when I woke up this morning, I said to myself: Just for today, I’m going to have breakfast with my daughters, I’m going to write this text (and have it proofread by friends), I’m going to go to the gym at the end of afternoon and I’m giving a virtual keynote tonight. That’s all! What will happen tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, next week or in a year is no longer a concern and even less a reason to stress.

Living just for today does not mean that you shouldn’t plan for the future. I am very organized. If I have an idea for a project in 2 weeks, I’ll write it down right away, but then quickly go back to “Just for today”. I often meet people who are panicked by anticipations like “I’m going to be single all my life” or “my child is going to have a hard time in the future”. For example, a friend told me recently that she was sad because her daughter (who is in second year of high school) would probably not go to College. Hiiiiii, one moment… we come back here and now please. When is her next exam? The day after tomorrow in mathematics? Wonderful, we just focus on that. What will MAYBE happen in a month, a year or 5 years is an illusion.

The future is an illusion. Living just for today is the road to serenity!

I don’t know about you, but when I’m not well, 99% of the time I’m too far in the future (in my apprehensions and worries) or too far in the past (in regrets, remorse or disappointment). You too? Moreover, the following sentence helps me a lot when I think of the the past: The past is a place of reference, not a place of residence. By living just for today, we relieve ourselves of the burden of the past and the fear of the future. I wish you a maximum of days focusing on “just for today”. Thank you and congratulations for being one of the few people to read a full text ❤

A reading recommendation to achieve greater serenity

Having sold millions of copies, “The Power of Now” by Eckhart Tolle is probably one of the most important books of our time. The simple yet profound principles discussed in this book have helped millions of people around the world find inner peace and feel more fulfilled in their lives.

The Power of Now is also available in audible format and there are chapters that I have listened to more than 10 times in my car over the past few years. In fact, I listened to them whenever I wanted to come back to the present moment and “Just for today”. Happy reading and/or listening! 😊

An inspiring and touching video

This video brings everything back to basics! After cheating death a few years ago, all my priorities have changed. Let’s say that the mad race for “success” has been replaced by a new philosophy of life: We are rich from what we give back!

Generosity is an admirable quality that consists in giving of oneself without expecting anything in return. This can manifest itself in many different ways, whether it’s offering their time, money, skills, or simply their attention. I hope this video will motivate you to give even more, while enjoying the joys and beauty of everyday life. In the end, we are really rich from what we give back ❤