As a person without cystic fibrosis, what amazes me is the amount of time, effort and dedication it takes to perform daily airway clearance techniques (ACTs). The truth about me: I have issues with motivating myself to do many "eat my vegetables" types of things. Some days, I don't shower -- which is far easier than the hours involved in airway clearance. And I can get negative when I think I haven't done something that I know I should have.
That's why I was struck by Dana Curry's video. She is relentlessly positive in the way she motivates herself. Dana says she became even more motivated to perform ACTs after she married her husband Will, realizing that she wanted to be there for him for a long time to come. Her positivity shows up in how she approaches her treatments, too. She finds that rewarding herself is the best motivational tool for her. She'll watch her favorite show, Ellen, while she does her afternoon ACTs.
“I find that I do much better when I reward myself for doing my treatments than if I miss something and give myself a hard time.”
Check out the video below to see how infectious Dana's attitude is.