Attitude to Gratitude. Turning a challenge into a benefit to others.

The latest episode in our Resilience Unravelled series has now been released, Resilience Unravelled – Attitude to Gratitude. Turning a challenge into a benefit for others.

In this episode, Dr. Russell Thackeray talks to Holly Bertone, the President and CEO of Pink Fortitude, LLC, and founder of Fortitude.Academy and the health and wellness website pinkfortitude.com. Holly spent the first 10 years of her career as a recruiter before becoming a Chief of Staff in the federal government service. As well as having a highly successful career, Holly took part in triathlons and was a mountain bike racer but she was diagnosed and treated first for breast cancer and then for the autoimmune illness, Hashimoto Disease. She is based in Alexandria, Virginia.

When Holly was diagnosed with breast cancer she was told ‘don't worry you have the good kind of cancer’.  Two days later her boyfriend proposed (they have recently celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary) and, having completed surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatment, they got married 10 days after Holly’s treatment ended. Over the next year however she kept getting sicker and sicker and the following year was diagnosed with the autoimmune condition Hasimoto Disease. This can lead to a number of symptoms including fatigue, migraine and IBS that are sometimes manageable and sometimes debilitating.

An autoimmune condition is really a case of our immune cells doing what they should be doing. The body has too much inflammation in it and the autoimmune system is trying to calm it down and put the fire out. There are 80 – 100 autoimmune diseases and they can have varying symptoms such as debilitating fatigue, pain, rashes, IBS and migraines. The symptoms and severity are different from person to person.

Holly was still working full time and could still function but she self demoted herself to an analyst role to reduce the amount of stress she was dealing with. She investigated different ways of dealing with her condition but gratitude seemed to be the driver - you can wake up and be miserable about your condition or wake up and be thankful for what life has given you. Holly’s mother had been diagnosed with Addison’s Disease, an autoimmune illness and Holly recalls that her mother was always positive, saying that gratitude builds fortitude.  Going through tough times builds fortitude and being grateful builds fortitude. It can be transformative in the midst of storms.

We all need fortitude or inner strength. Every day we can choose to be a victim of circumstance or we can say ‘I’ve got this’.  Our day might not be perfect but we can take control of our life despite of what’s coming our way – we can deal with what we’re going through because we’re strong and have fortitude. It’s about having a mental narrative and giving ourselves positive messages. We're all really good at ‘talking bad to ourselves’ and telling ourselves that we’re not good enough. Holly feels we should talk to ourselves as if we were talking to a baby, a grandparent or a member of the clergy – with respect, kindness and lovingness. If we’re feeling bad at the start of the day, messages, a mantra or inspirational quote can help get through a tough time. It's a matter of finding what works for you

Holly feels that gratitude is the umbrella. A simple definition of gratitude is that it’s a state of being thankful, a place of joy or love.  A way of getting started would be to start to think about 3 things to be grateful for in the morning and 3 before you go to bed. Over time this gradually starts to grow and change your mindset. The benefits of gratitude have a scientific base. Dr. Robert Emmons is a leading expert on gratitude and he has undertaken a number of world studies on the link between gratitude and wellbeing. It has been established that practicing gratitude has 7 benefits. Gratitude can:

1. open the door to more relationships.

2. improve physical health.

3. improve psychological health.

4. enhance empathy and reduce aggression.

5. help people sleep better.

6. improve self-esteem.

7. increase mental strength.

Holly has turned two significant health challenges into a passion to help transform the lives of women struggling with chronic illness by sharing the power of gratitude.

You can listen to the podcast in full and find out further information about Holly here. Our previous podcast episodes, upcoming guest list and full blog archive are also available.

You can get in touch with Holly through pinkfortitude.com or Fortitude.Academy 

Holly is also the #1 Amazon.com bestselling author of the book Thriving in the Workplace with Autoimmune Disease: Know Your Rights, Resolve Conflict, and Reduce Stress, the first book ever to educate others on Autoimmune Disease as a legal disability in the U.S. workplace.