The Say ifs and The What ifs!

Have you ever waited for a loved one to come out of surgery? It feels like the longest day ever.

Waiting can be an unbearable experience. The mind spins wildly, tumbling through every possible outcome like a washing machine on a frantic spin cycle. A million say ifs, what ifs, maybes… crashing and colliding in our thoughts.

The idea of losing someone precious during surgery is not a thought we willingly entertain. Waiting on the outside, looking in, can be terrifying. And yet, we rarely stop to consider what it’s like for the patient.

The strange smells, the clinical clatter of equipment, the buzz of machines, and people dressed head to toe in protective clothing—none of them recognisable or familiar. It’s not a vision anyone would want to endure for long. (Truth be told, I’d be a terrible patient.)

But the say ifs and what ifs aren’t just reserved for those in the waiting room. The patient carries their own mental load, too. These moments—fraught as they are—often bring clarity. In that in-between space, many of us find ourselves making silent promises, vowing to change something, to do better, to live differently if everything just turns out okay.

And when it does… the relief is palpable. The joy, the gratitude—it all washes over like sunlight after a storm.

In those difficult hours, distraction can be a lifeline. Keeping busy helps fend off the unthinkable. But even more powerful? Releasing emotional storage—clearing out the old feelings, thoughts, and patterns that no longer serve us. That’s when real relief comes. That’s when clarity begins.

Because it’s in those raw, vulnerable moments that we get a glimpse of our internal wiring—our neural pathways, our default behaviours. We see how we respond to pressure, fear, and uncertainty.

And here’s the good news I always share with clients: Once you realise a behaviour is learned, you have the power to unlearn it.

Yes—if you learned it, you can unlearn it.

That’s the first step to reclaiming your power. Awareness. Noticing how you’re being. Once you have that awareness, you hold the keys to change. Power restored.

It is one to ponder, is it not, the gift of noticing? Noticing how we are behaving and changing from powerless to powerful.

What if you could do that right away, say if, it was the most powerful thing you ever do?