A Life Rich in Faith, Bipolar, Chronic Pain, Creativity & Purple!
For Valentine's Day, my wonderful husband made me a playlist of "Beautiful" songs. It included various versions of "You Are So Beautiful", "You're Beautiful" by James Blunt and many others. The one that always sticks in my mind is "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera. The line in the title is from that song. I have talked …
Continue reading "Mental Health – Words Can’t Bring Me Down"
I am reblogging this because it is the perfect reminder for me on what can get me through my current flare-up of pain and anxiety. It is a very insightful and inspiring look at self-care.
Lydia!
I was introduced to the concept of self-care when I was a senior in high school. I had heard the term thrown around a good bit, but I mostly wrote it off as something that was selfish and unnecessary. Boy was I wrong.
When I began struggling with depression and anxiety, I sought out any and every avenue of treatment that I thought might alleviate my suffering. Initially, I was very hesitant to learn more about self-care and resisted incorporating it into my daily routine. My strict religious upbringing had conditioned me to avoid anything that had the word “self” in it.
The truth is, if you neglect yourself, you’ll have nothing to give to others. I was passionate about serving other people and this concept really hit home for me.
I remember someone provided me with the analogy of airplane safety. In the event of a decrease in oxygen…
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A very thorough and thoughtful insight into chronic illness management from my dear friend Sam Moss from “My Medical Musings”. This is good reading for both people with chronic illness and those that care for them.
Lydia!
At the start of a new week or month, I have a, “what’s on your calendar?” segment on my Facebook Forum, Medical Musings with Friends.
The idea is to take a quiet moment, to think about what lies ahead. We muse about how we are feeling, what we are concerned about, what we are excited about.
Appointments, celebrations and milestones are shared by members, so together we can support and encourage each other.
Sharing those thoughts in a safe place, like an online chronic illness group, is really cathartic. Writing down your thoughts and speaking about them, can help provide clarity in the midst of pain and disease.
Uncertainty often encompasses life at every turn when living with chronic disease. Having friends to turn to, online or otherwise, who are walking in your shoes, can provide so much comfort.
Sometimes though, when our pain or disease…
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