Subconsciously

The first decade of life is the first ten years, and it ends at ten; the second at twenty; the third at thirty; the fourth at forty; the fifth at fifty, etc. So she said the discharge was not foul smelling, no dyspareunia (or at least, that was what she told me. Dyspareunia means painful intercourse), she’s a multiparous (has given birth to more than one) woman, there was alcohol consumption, but I forgot to ask about early coitarche (age at first intercourse), and I ‘think’ I asked about a history of multiple sexual partners. Okay, I didn’t get some ‘Aha!’ presentations; I’d still had asked other pertinent questions but for one thing: Something wrong, but somewhere in my mind, put in an appearance. Somewhere, in my mind, is the wrong notion that a teenager (11 and 12, as well) is in his/her first decade of life; a twenty something year old in his/her second decade; a thirty something year old in his/her third decade; a forty something year old in his/her fourth decade; a fifty something year old in his/her fifth decade, etc. I’ll likely make this mistake if, for whatever reason, I’m a bit nervous; it may still slip even when I’m relaxed. Gosh, I hope I’m not alone.

I’ve briefly touched on an exam experience and irrespective of how well-meaning our examiners are when they say: ‘Just Relax’, this exam is structured in a way that the fact that one has a couple of minutes (three, to be precise) to provide answers to a question (with sub-questions) is reason enough to resurrect dead nerves. Did the nerves set in? Did I dismiss cervical cancer (as I clerked) as the definitive diagnosis in a forty eight-year-old multiparous woman with abnormal discharge, because the first thought that came to my mind after seeing that age was the fourth (instead of fifth) decade of life? Yes, to both questions.

There are ‘hidden’ words, images, thoughts, even experiences, etc, lurking around somewhere in us all. Great, if these come around early and are true; we’ve got work to do, if these also come around early but are false. Anger, frustration, anxiety, fear, euphoria, even being relaxed, etc, are examples of catalysts needed to make these come to the fore. These, are citizens of a world called The Subconscious. Permit me to put two and two together: In my subconscious exists a wrong age-decade relationship, the exam nerves made it come to the fore, I missed my patient’s definitive diagnosis, and ... Thankfully, all still went well. Lol, I hope you were not expecting the contrary!

According to the Cambridge English Dictionary, one of its definitions for subconscious is the part of one’s mind that notices and remembers information when one is not actively trying to do so, and influences one’s behavior even when one doesn’t recognize it. That sounds powerful! So powerful is the subconscious that it sure has its place when it comes to healing physical, mental, and social ills. When the bible says an adult will not depart from the right way he/she had been instructed to go (as a child) by his/her parents, it was referring largely to the power of the subconscious. I doubt a day goes by without our subconscious affecting any one or all of these four: our words, thoughts, decisions, and actions. The truth is that we can never truly know all the citizens that reside in our subconscious. As I type this, I’m sure a new citizen has entered. Now that we know the subconscious is so powerful, shouldn’t we endeavor to control it (for our good, of course)? Yes, we should.

So how can one control the subconscious? Practicing positive self talk, crafting a positive mantra, and visualization are my wikiHow favorites. As you may already know, be mindful of what you let your precious senses consume. Sure, we may use these senses to deliberately or unknowingly consume toxins at some point in our lives. The toxin triggers are there, and the toxins are in so many places. When you get to know the toxins, stop them from further entry, detoxify by replacement with healthier choices, and do seek help. Most times, the toxins are never really the majors, but the unresolved/partially resolved triggers that even made one consume the toxins in the first place. Talk about seeking help and a colleague who, of late, has decided to deal with combating suicide comes to mind. You can check his other commendable works at www.dta-foundation.com. Back to the subconscious, identify the false notions there. You can’t identify all, but try to lay those hands on as many as you can. Write, type, record, etc, the contraries of these notions and keep where you know you’ll frequently go to. That way, you’ll get to see (or listen to) them most of the time. After a while, there’s no way those subconscious untruths will remain strong. Hey, I just ‘subconsciously’ felt you’ll think: ‘Now I know why this blog post began this way’.