While we tend to feel a little bit better after finally getting tests done for our health, waiting for the test results can be really stressful, especially when you’ve been dealing with painful and worrisome symptoms. It’s very important to say the right things to ourselves as we wait for our test results – both for our sanity and our health.
1. I Know That Some Things Take More Time Than Other Things
We live in a world where we can have a lot of answers quickly. We can find out certain information within minutes, and it becomes addicting to know what we want to know right now.
This is one reason we all want to know our test results the moment after we take the test. We feel like we should be able to know them. It’s human nature. But, short of being a doctor and having access to results, we simply don’t always get that luxury.
Moreover, sometimes a doctor needs to review results and compare them with other things and take some time to come to a conclusion. And that might be a good thing. We don’t necessarily want a doctor who jumps to conclusions or only looks at one test result without taking the bigger picture into consideration.
2. I Value Being Patient
In this day and age, delayed gratification is not something we have to deal with often.
Yet, having patience is an asset that we should all put more value on. It allows us to deal with situations out of our control with more grace and less stress, which is good for our mental health as well as our physical health.
Try viewing your time waiting for results as an exercise to practice being patient. Congratulate yourself for waiting a day, two days, or longer.
Know that the more you practice patience now, the more capable you will be of handling life’s roadblocks and bumps as you move forward – and there will be many roadblocks and bumps along the way.
3. Things Will Likely Not Be As Bad As I Imagine
We tend to assume the worst as we wait for our test results. And we can come up with some pretty good diagnoses in our minds as we are waiting for health test results. Especially if we are in pain or experiencing unnerving symptoms. But often times the cause is not as bad as our imagination makes it out to be.
There’s a story about an old man who shares his most precious advice with his family before he dies. The advice is that he worried about many things in his life, most of which never happened.
A family member who is an imaging technician once told me that most results turn out fine. The imaging is often ordered to rule out something rather than to find something, and that the extra caution doesn’t automatically mean that something big is wrong. Yet, we tend to view health tests as a threat to our health.
A good story of this is when one woman went in for a mammogram because of some breast pain she was having. The radiologist decided she also needed a breast ultrasound. She had to wait a few weeks for the ultrasound, and while the technician was scanning her, it was obvious that something had been found by the way she was marking up the imaging with circles and writing. She went home and spent the next two weeks convinced she had breast cancer. Her doctor never bothered to call her, so she had to book her own follow-up appointment. Eventually, she got a call from another doctor, because her doctor went on vacation, and he told her that she had a small cyst, and it was nothing to worry about. She had spent one month worried out of her mind and making herself sick over a small cyst that went away shortly after she found out her test results.
Even if things are as bad as you imagine, spending weeks making yourself sick over it is not going to help anything. Spend the time focusing on the positive and potential good outcomes so your body can stay calm and heal as you wait for your test results.
4. There Are Many Things In My Control Right Now
Try focusing on what you can do right now. It will help you feel a little more control over your life as you deal with not being able to get the test results you want.
In other words, it will balance things out by helping you feel less helpless and more in control.
So, decide to take action on things:
- Find out an answer to a question you’ve been thinking about.
- Set some goals and start working towards them.
- Sign up for a free masterclass from Mindvalley and gain insight into an area of life you need more insight in.
- Connect with someone you’ve been wanting to connect with.
In short, take action on something that gives you a sense of control over your life.
5. I Will Not Diagnosis Myself Through Google As I Wait For My Test Results
It’s important to recognize symptoms and potential causes so that you can get yourself to a doctor and clearly explain what’s going on and what possible tests you would like done to help ease your mind. But, going into a Google deep dive around your symptoms is guaranteed to make you more stressed out as you wait for your test results.
One of the big problems is that many common symptoms could mean many different things, ranging from nothing too big to something really big. And where does our mind tend to go? To the really, REALLY big!
We know that things usually aren’t as bad as we fear, so it’s important to not start diagnosing ourselves with the big things before we actually get our test results and have a better indication of what’s going on in our body.
6. I Can Do Things Differently Going Forward
As you wait for test results, you may get upset with how long you waited to seek help and worry that you let your issue go too long.
Or you may be upset with the doctor for not calling you back and reassuring you that your first set of test results are nothing to worry about.
Or you may be upset with yourself for being so stressed as you wait for your test results and making yourself sicker than you need to be.
It’s important to affirm to yourself, right now, that you can do things differently as you go forward.
You can decide to be proactive with your health going forward and seek a doctor’s help quickly when something goes wrong rather than waiting for a long time to see how things go.
You can also switch doctors going forward if your doctor is not following up with you. One woman had a doctor who consistently told her that she would call ASAP with the results but would never follow up on that promise. After weeks she would have to call in and make an appointment to find out what the test results showed, and those weeks were filled with painful worry that kept her sick and brought up a whole other list of symptoms. When she decided that she was going to switch doctors during one long wait for her test results, she immediately felt better knowing that in the future, she would inform new doctors that her one requirement was a timely follow-up after test results.
Moreover, you can decide to be more present as you wait for your test results. You can do things that bring you joy, as well as things that make you feel more productive and in control of your life.
7. I’m Sticking To My Routine As I Wait For My Test Results
If you are in pain, and you normally work out during the day, you probably should skip the workout, but try to stick to your routine as closely as possible. This will help keep your mind centered as you move through your day in a normal way.
If you sit around all day and stew in your worry, then your mind and body are going to react poorly to that. Negative thoughts, feelings, and pain will move in and literally take over your life as you wait for your test results.
But, if you do what you normally do, as best you can, you will keep your mind occupied and your body as relaxed as possible as you focus on what needs to be done and what you enjoy.
You may even find that pain you are feeling or symptom you are having will lessen or even go away as your focus stays on your everyday life and routine and out of the future where worry about your test results lives.
8. I Can Take Action On My Health While I Wait For My Test Results
As you wait for your test results, you may want to take some action on your health to give you a feeling of extra control over your health.
For instance, you may want to eat better or go for daily walks to help you feel as if you are doing healthy things for yourself.
Or you may want to book an appointment with a massage therapist, acupuncturist, or even a Reiki practitioner to help you feel as though you are doing something about your symptoms rather than just waiting to see what your test results say and where to go from there.
If you don’t feel like going to see someone, you can look for natural ways to boost your health online (think reflexology or hypnotherapy) or sign up to learn more about natural healing through someone like Donna Eden who teaches Energy Medicine.
9. I Can Deal With Whatever The Test Results Show
Whether your test results are good or bad, you are going to be able to deal with it. Despite thinking that your life would be over if the worst news was to be given to you, it’s part of human nature to deal with what comes.
Whatever the test results show, you are going to develop a plan and go from there, day by day.
For now, deal with today just as you will deal with the ‘today’ after your test results. Stay present!
10. I Have Options
We are very lucky to be living in a time where we can test things and treat things that we couldn’t test and treat before.
If something serious happens while you are waiting for your test results, you can seek immediate emergency help. You will not have to wait around to talk to your doctor who may never call. You can go into emergency and get tests and test results much quicker than you can with your doctor.
If you are diagnosed with something, you will have options available to you going forward. You will not just be left in the dust to struggle with the results.
And, if your test results show nothing wrong, then you have options to change your lifestyle and mindset which may have been part of what caused your symptoms in the first place.
Life is not stagnant. We are constantly moving, changing, curing, treating, and growing.
Some Other Affirmations That Might Help As You Wait For Your Test Results
How you talk to yourself matters as you wait for your test results. Here are some other affirmations you can use to ease stress and anxiety.
- I choose how I feel, and I choose to feel calm and patient.
- I engage in my life with as much enthusiasm as I can muster up!
- There’s more to life than the results of my test.
- I’ve had tests before and they came out OK.
- I always keep moving, despite what life throws at me.
- I can handle whatever the test results show.
- I am grateful that I am able to get tests done and learn more about what’s happening in my body.
You may also want to seek out affirmations from Subliminal Guru that you can listen to repeatedly to help you overcome anxiety and worry as you wait for your test results.
Or, use a self-hypnosis session that could help you be more patient or dissolve worry and anxiety.
