The power of positive thinking has been around for ages, but one woman in Grand Forks is taking that further using her own experiences to show how powerful ideas can be.
Patti Bevilaqua is already a published writer and has spoken many times about her journey to adapt to Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and even learn to appreciate the muscle control disorder, but she was given a chance to speak about changing people’s mindsets when she was invited to do a TEDx Talk.
The 10-minute talk, which can be viewed for free on YouTube, focuses on changing the concept of a body’s movement based on her experiences adapting to MS, as well as speaking to others who also faced sudden changes to their lives because they lost some mobility.
She is bringing the message that the book of your life isn’t pre-written and even with sudden changes, there are still many blank pages they can fill with new life experiences.
“Look at all the great things people have done because they had great thoughts they wanted to share,” she said. “You may struggle with mobility and have great thoughts, why not put those together and show people that just because you can’t walk, stand, run, see or hear, doesn’t mean you don’t have any value in society. You can still serve a huge purpose.”
Her talk can be viewed by searching: This is what multiple sclerosis taught a PE teacher | Patti Bevilacqua | TEDxHawkesbury.
Part of Bevilaqua’s TEDx Talk discusses mobility as a concept rather than a physical act, which she said inspired her to rethink MS as meaning Mindset Shift. She explained that she’s met a lot of people that were having a difficult time, but they had a mindset that these were the cards that they have been dealt and they have to manage their lives with those limits.
Talking to these people made Bevilaqua realize she could’ve gone the way of thinking her life was done, but she thought her life had just shifted and still had many things she could do.
So many people are stuck in the mindset that they are limited by their mobility issues or physical limitations. What she hopes to achieve is to show a broader audience there is still many things they can do, if they are willing to think beyond their limitations.
Giving a TEDx Talk was always on her list of priorities, but she didn’t get the chance until late last year. Caesar Cervantes and one of his co-workers works with people who want to give talks, Bevilaqua explained, and they all decided a mindset shift was the angle they wanted to go with for her talk.
Normally TEDx Talks can go as long a 20 to 30 minutes, but Bevilaqua made a 10-minute video because it was long enough to get people’s attention and “plant a seed” in people’s minds with what she had to say.
“It took me 12 years to get to this point, but if I can shorten that for someone else, that’s my goal,” she said.
Bevilaqua has always been a physically active person. She landed what should’ve been her dream job as a physical education teacher in September of 1989. By the following March, she had been diagnosed with MS. She left teaching six years later.
It was devastating for her at the time to leave her career aspirations behind, she said. It took years of working through her feelings to remember that didn’t mean she couldn’t find purpose. She had numerous conversations with other women who had MS. Through them, she found two predominant attitudes, either they were depressed and considered their lives over, or they were steadfastly maintaining positive outlooks.
This led her to think about how to shift her own mindset.
“I thought, I can’t teach like I used to, but what can I do? I can think and I can talk and process ideas,” she said. “I thought that there are a lot of people out there with mobility struggles and charge ahead in life. That’s great, but those who don’t, maybe I can give them a bit of a push and let them know that they have a lot of value to provide as well,” she said.
She’s had essays on changing mindsets in Absolute Vision and Absolute Will, which are compendiums of true stories of resilience in collaboration with Jo Pronger Faulkner.
Her talks and writing are not just for people with mobility issues. She is hoping that with the TEDx Talk and her stories she can help change able-bodied people’s perceptions as well.
With her TEDx Talk and writings established, she is moving ahead. First, Bevilaqua is working to speak to teachers to coach them on why they teach. Eventually, she would like to become a motivational speaker.