Maya Shankar

the version of herself that is the most raw and authentic and vulnerable version of her in this new state.

And the details are what obviously make her story so incredible.

But over time, as she witnesses her care team fall in love with her for who she really is,

She has to engage in a kind of self-acceptance that she never thought was possible and to start to love herself.

And what I find so heartening about Olivia's story is that at the outset of her change, she was absolutely resolute that the only way she would ever feel happy and peaceful and worthy in this world is if she made a full and complete recovery.

And while her recovery was astounding, it was not full.

It was not complete.

And she is now the happiest, most self-assured version of herself, more than she ever thought possible.

And I think that that is the power in change, right?

It reveals things to us that are holding us back and then we can revisit those belief systems, right?

We can renew our relationship with ourselves and our self-identity and come out the other side stronger.

Type A plus.

Whatever the extreme version of type A is, I'm that thing.

Correct.

So what you're describing, the illusion of control, refers to the idea that we tend to wildly overestimate the degree to which we dictate the outcomes in our lives.

And when I think about it, it makes a lot of sense that we evolved this way because if we didn't feel we had control over our lives, most of us would descend into a state of nihilism, right?

We'd be like, why do we care about anything?

Why do we work hard?

The challenge, though, is that the meaning and purpose we get from this illusion is threatened, and we can feel that illusion shattering when a big unexpected change comes our way that we simply aren't prepared for.

And Olivia felt this.