Tool For Healing: “Superbetter.com” – The Back Story – A Story Of Resilience
In yesterday’s blog I talked about the site “Superbetter” and how by “playing” the video game that has been created, it can help you heal from injuries and illnesses.
Today, I want to share with you how this site got created. Superbetter.com was created by Jane McGonical who suffered a brain injury in 2009. She developed the site in an effort to help herself to heal from her injury.
Jane realized that the key to recovery is having social support, that she terms “allies”. This concept works well because as human beings we all need to feel cared about. The time we really need connection with other people is when we are most vulnerable and paradoxically tend to emotionally move away from every one because we are depressed, embarrassed feel hopeless. Jane McGonical characterizes the process as an “Epic Win”. What a great name it makes us feel like a hero in our own healing story.
So the post script is that this really works Jane has a web site which is filled with her successes. She has chosen to be a hero rather than a victim. If you got to her site: http://janemcgonigal.com/ you will see positive comment after positive comment about her and about her creation “Superbetter”.
When Susan is interviewed she is open and non-defensive. She positions “Superbetter” as a work in progress.
She talks about modifications and upgrades based on feedback. When thing don’t work, including our bodies, her response is: “What we can do to make things better”.
The back story here is about a woman and an attitude of how can we make this situation as right as possible. We all need people to inspire us, someone who has confidence and demonstrates resiliency. I often wonder when my challenges come will I be up to the task. I’m worried that I won’t be and hope that I am.
Part of my mission, in my blogs, is to help people build their own sense of resiliency. One way we can do that is by being exposed to great role models. Another way to contribute to our own resiliency is be forgiving of others and ourselves when there is a struggle. We want to run a line between being nurturing and indulgent. We need time to regroup and to be supported; and then we need to do something and not get lost in our pain, easy to say and very hard to do.
My hope is as I share these terrific stories with you of different people who have been heroes in their own stories and their heroism will inspire you as they have me.
It’s not what you have; it’s what you do with what you have!