Posts Tagged With: bongos

…and BE ME…

…and HAVE LIMITS…

I mean, let’s face it.  I’m a hard person to be.  I have goals.  I have ambitions.  I am a Go-Getter.  I am a Type A Personality by Instinct. The first idea in my head is GOGOGOGOGOGOGOGOGO!!!!

There’s no room for LIMITS…

Hmmmmmmm……

Welllll……

That’s really hard to deal with when I have multiple sclerosis and lupus.  I’m not even mentioning the digestive symptoms and syndromes, food allergies, environmental allergies, any infections that I might be fighting off, the fun womanly once a month irritations, sinus symptoms and issues, my crazy GOGOGOGOGOGOGO head, or even headaches that might come and go here and there.  I mean really.  I don’t get a chance to GOGOGOGOGOGO.  And if I do by chance get back into that habit, I am in TROUBLE and back on my butt FEELING AWFUL FOR SOME REASON…

UGH…

Sure that’s probably a really good thing.  Actually, it’s a blessing that I am grateful for quite often.  I’m grateful that I have to take it slower and actually see my life go by.  I don’t get a chance to be sprint through it.  I get an opportunity to get to know myself (scary sometimes yet really nice to do), to get to know others out there in the world who are cashiers and other customers for example, to smell the flowers, to really take care of my plants, to love on my dearest Cleo Kitty, to sit and just BE (so hard sometimes), to take my time, to look at the sky, to watch the world, to take a few extra breaths and maybe even DEEP BREATHS here and there…

BUT I WANT THE CHOICE to GOOOGOOOOGOOOO…or Do I?

I really have no idea.

I just don’t like having multiple sclerosis and lupus.  That’s just it.  I can’t stand them.  I want them to go away.  If I’m not careful I get sucked into a black hole of “Why me?” and “What did I do to deserve this?” and “Why won’t they just leave me alone?” and the list goes on and on…I think I could go on forever in what I call “WHOAISMS” and sometimes I believe I’m allowed to do that.  But I hope I have something to pull me out and I usually do.

So then I need to really work on spirituality whatever that means to me that day.  I could be meditating.  I could be actually letting myself sleep if my body and schedule allows.  I could be looking at the flowers.  I could be beating on my Bongos.  LOVE THAT by the way!  Seriously, if you have anger, I suggest you find something to beat on as long as it’s not yourself, or another living being, or something you’re going to damage—hmm….maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned to find just anything to beat on.  For a long time I’ve used the Hulk Hands that are out in toy stores that Corey has bought me (the first pair really was the best) that actually had Hulk’s voice and yelled, “Hulk Smash!” and would growl so when I put them on I got to laugh and feel big and strong and punch the wall.  I don’t recommend punching a wall without that kind of cushion.  PLEASE BE CAREFUL WHATEVER YOU DO.

But then now I have these Bongos and that’s great but I can’t just jump in and do a long set of banging.  I have to pace myself and only do it a few minutes at a time and build up to longer because then my hands and arms hurt.  Well, that’s just great.

So that’s what I mean, I’m always putting limits on myself and what I can do but in TRUTH: THERE REALLY ACTUALLY ARE LIMITS.  I’d like to continue to be able to use my hands and arms which are the most affected by both my lupus and MS and I’d also like to not feel the pain and throbbing from having overused them…on the bongos that I just enjoyed banging on to help me relax and calm down…

Then there’s the exercise.  Exercise is great to keep me flexible and stable.  Yay.  Go me.  Notice I’m not too excited about it.  Some days it feels like real work and like my body is complaining the ENTIRE TIME.  Then other days my body is thrilled and wants to be stretched and moved even more.  But again, there are actual limits if I want to keep functioning.  It is cumulative.  However, WALKING HAS BECOME MY THING.  I am well on my way to having walked 300 days in a row by the end of February.  AND THERE IS A LIMIT TO THAT.  I need to NOT JUDGE myself about walking and what I did that day.  I need to not push myself to walk an hour every day.  I need to be willing to only even walk a few minutes if that’s all I can do.  The TRUE BENEFIT comes out of keeping my legs and body moving and honestly, it’s helped my mind immensely too.  I have so much more confidence now than I used to in general just because of walking but they have truly loosened up and become more stable, strong and can endure more.  They DON’T complain that often anymore.  And by now it’s become such a habit to take a walk that I can’t imagine my life without it.

But then there’s trying to have a life.  I know.  Crazy.

A LIFE.

You know, that life where I can socialize with people, maybe even have some real friends out here in LA, maybe even keep in touch with the friends and family at a distance, spend more time with my husband, get out into the world and do things besides grocery shopping (although that is important too), and doctor appointments, and medical tests and be on the phone with something regarding Disability, Medical Insurance, following up with doctors, finding an attorney for a legal issue, filling out paperwork and the list goes on.  And what about being creative?  I yearn to be creative but I can’t do too much OR I have to slow down and my body asks for it.  But when will that happen?

WHEN AM I DOING TOO MUCH?  WHEN IS IT WORTH IT TO PUSH IT?  WHERE IS THE LINE?

There is no pattern or predictability.

Again, the worst part about these diseases is the UNPREDICTABILITY.

For goodness sakes, if only they were PREDICTABLE.  What a different world it would be.  I might be able to make plans and keep them.  I might be able to sign up to take regular hobby classes or regular ANYTHINGS.

I mean, let’s not forget it takes me at least 4 hours to get ready in the morning if I’ve included waking up, stretching my body in bed to get it moving again (tends to get stuck and stiff from sleeping if I’ve slept that is), do more stretches to stand up, follow a spiritual way of life (numerous ways to do that and I try to be creative with that), probably go to the bathroom (I know TMI), take a few pills, feed and be with my Cleo Kitty who has health issues of her own and is desperate to eat by 7am or ELSE, try to wake up a bit more before eating and taking more meds, plan out my day, get stuff ready to go if I have a medical appointment and I usually have at least one a week (the next 3 weeks I have 2 each week–goody gumdrops for me), pull myself together meaning exercise to the best of my ability to wake up my body, take a shower which is an event in itself and can take a lot out of me, not to mention brushing my teeth (an electric toothbrush is best so I can save my hands and arms and their energy), get dressed, try to make my hair look presentable (thank goodness for purple short hair so it’s already kinda cool and easy), pet and love my Cleo Kitty who always needs extra love and well so do I, make sure I wear my hat to protect from the sun, wear my sun protective jacket or at least a shirt with longer sleeves, get Cleo ready for me to be gone, make some sort of business calls if I have the chance, try to sit and rest here and there because it’s a lot to ask my body since so much activity has already happened, try to maybe wash the dishes or at least some of them, sort through any weird symptoms I’m having and do my best to take care of them, and the list can still go on.

THAT’S JUST THE MORNING EVENTS…no matter what even if I’m feeling crazy fatigue–I may go back to bed but what if I can’t because I have an appointment?  I’ve gotta get through it.  I’m so exhausted from thinking about my morning and writing about it that I haven’t even written the next parts of the day where I have to keep myself in check and have all my meds sorted out to take and make sure I take them on time and have meals at good times or I end up feeling worse.

And there’s always laundry to be done.  Can I do it today?  Should it wait?  What if we need underwear?  (Hey, I’m being honest).  And what about groceries?  What about the “What abouts”?

What’s the real priority?  There’s always some sort of life that needs to get done and if I let it go it’s still there tomorrow and I have to try to be ok with not getting it done YET.  I’ll admit, that is one of my biggest struggles.  LETTING SOMETHING GO UNTIL TOMORROW…OR ANOTHER DAY…OR ANOTHER DAY…

YET SOME THINGS CAN’T WAIT…

I’VE LEARNED TO LET GO OF A LOT BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN I’M OK WITH IT.

So life just keeps on happening.  I keep having multiple sclerosis and lupus along with all the other syndromes and issues and the world keeps spinning.  Thank goodness for choices but it’s still so hard sometimes.  I really have eased up on so much in my life and with my expectations but it takes a strict way of thinking that I really can’t get lazy with too much (sometimes it’s a wonderful thing but I can’t let go of it too long or I lose myself again and may go back to pushing too hard)…

SO I GUESS I’M STILL LEARNING…

THESE CHRONIC ILLNESSES I TELL YA…

There is just so much I can say about them and so much I don’t have the words or energy to talk about.