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Planning for the Future
This is a weird and dark time. Likely, you’re feeling a bit isolated. During this time it’s difficult to think of anything else besides covid-19. I’ve found something that can help! Planning for the future. This found me by accident. I have to register for the Fall semester in a little under a month and I needed to get my ducks in a row. Now, I have my Fall planned out and more than anything, I feel excited. Of course, no one knows what the Fall or the rest of this year will look like. I say there’s no harm in planning for the best possible outcome. I even started…
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Finding Self Love in Quarantine
This is a stressful time in the world. It seems that people are ready to snap at the drop of a hat. I’ve found that although we are distant, our reach through social media can start many arguments. During this time, we should be practicing self love. We can’t always influence people’s opinions, even when they’re hurtful. It’s important to distance yourself from negative attitudes. Put effort into your relationship with yourself. It always seems simple, until we start to focus on it. Here are some of my best tips for practicing self love during quarantine… Write Down What You Love About Yourself Before I go to bed and before…
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Calming My Anger and Resentment
In the past two weeks, I’ve been excessively angry. I have regressed from the mental state of radical acceptance. I have become filled with resentment. I’m actively working to remedy this change, as I don’t like the effects anger has on me. I like feeling warm and cozy within my body and anger doesn’t provide that home. This anger has been focused on individuals who don’t interact well with Crush. It’s rare that I encounter people that are rude or unpleasant towards Crush. Rather it’s people who are overly excited about seeing a dog that have the ability to ruin my day. When I say they ruin my day, I…
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Confronting Fear and Anxiety
Confronting fear is something I aspire to do well. Currently, fear gets a hold of me all too often. It’s easy to let it in. Then without warning, it sets up camp in your mind and it feels impossible to evict it. Dealing with fear requires practice. There’s never going to be a time that we don’t experience fear. It’s what we do in the face of it that matters. In my life, fear can be a moment by moment experience. In the past, it’s been easy to lose my whole day to fear and anxiety. Now, I take it one step at a time. Some days are more difficult…
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Dealing With Endless Testing
Different types of testing go along with any type of chronic or acute illness. From blood tests to MRI’s, I have gone through the ringer with testing. Every test comes with different emotions. Some tests are painful, like the different injections I had to get in my hip. Other tests are emotionally taxing, like a three hour MRI of your brain and spine. All testing comes at a price whether it be physical or emotional. The more you try to escape it, the worse your experience will be. Here’s how I deal with endless testing. Radical Acceptance There will be tests that suck. Painful, traumatizing, and horrible tests will occur.…
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Making Progress With My Hip
After my hip surgery, I’ve had a lot of ups and downs. For the most part, everyone is excited to see the progress I’ve made. I’m ahead of schedule and my hip is recovering nicely. I was ecstatic to get off crutches but it came with a price. I started to have extra pain in my hip when walking, something I didn’t experience with crutches. This brought me to a difficult fork in the road. Suddenly, I had to scale back what I was doing to accommodate this new change. Even with that set back, I’ve started physical therapy and we can see new results everyday. Choosing to get this…
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Tips for Having FUN at Home
Some or most of us are pretty much stuck at home during this coronavirus pandemic. It’s important not to let yourself wallow in the fear and anger that has come about with being stuck. Most people are not aware of what it is like to have to spend extended periods of time in the house. For those of us with chronic illness, we often have to spend extended periods of time in the house. Either way, it’s a good idea to keep your mind occupied and stimulated. Here are my best ideas for staying busy and HAVING FUN while at home. Play Games If you have others around your house,…
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My Issue With the Coronavirus
I know that this is the topic that everyone and no one wants to address. You’ve probably heard about it too much in the past month. I don’t want to talk about the virus itself but rather the conversation around it. Recently, I got into a conversation about the hype the media has brought to the virus. The people I was conversing with believe it’s talked about too much and there is no reason to panic. I don’t think people should panic. People should be concerned and prepared. Having a parent that works in the medical field, I know how serious this is for hospitals. This is cause for concern.…
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6 Ways to get into a Spring Mindset
I am so excited! Minnesota just had the warmest weekend since the winter started. I am ready for Spring. I am ready for flowers and warmer weather. I am ready for sunshine and walking outside. I am already preparing for Spring in so many ways. Now that we’ve gained an hour of sunshine during the day, I’m excited to jump into longer days. I dislike winter. If I had it my way, I would live in a moderate climate all year round. That’s not possible right now so I’m taking the opportunity to be grateful and prepare for Spring! Here are six ways to get in the Spring spirit. Start…
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Dealing With Ignorance
It’s interesting to me that I have to address this topic. After this week, frustrated. I have noticed that people have started to treat me differently since getting Crush. Most people are very accommodating or overly nice but there are others that are not. I recently watched a video on Youtube. A blind woman described her experience with her guide dog. She recalls times of being denied by a Lyft or Uber drivers, simply because of her dog. I can’t say that I’ve ever experienced this. I can’t imagine. I’m sure it will happen eventually but the Twin Cities is very accommodating. Let me preface this with the fact that…
