January 3rd, 2012

 Aunt Florence - Circa 1967

Aunt Florence - Circa 2009

Good Morning. Today is going to be [quote, unquote] "one of those days". I haven't slept all night and when I have these bouts of insomnia it usually wreaks havoc on my body, exaggerating my pain and stiffness. I have sleeping pills that have been prescribed for me but I am not a fan of taking anything that "alters my sense of awareness"....not even just for that brief period before it causes me to fall asleep. I would make the worlds worst drug addict; I absolutely hate that feeling of being "high". I've got a doctors appointment with an Opthalmologist (Dr. Flowers) this afternoon. She is going to give me the low down on this cataract I have developed on my right eye and schedule my surgery to have it removed. Then it's off to Aunt Florence's house (her other house I should say....but that's another story for another time) to meet up with the cable company so they can install internet access for her. I spent 3 hours with her this past Saturday teaching her how to pay her bill's online. We set up a "Gmail" email account for her, bookmarked all of the websites she will need to re-visit when it's bill paying time again next month, and got her all set up to be able to view and make changes to her bank account online. Amazingly enough, despite her being 70 years old, she did awesome. She does use a computer in her office (she is a Clinical Psychologist for a nearby Community Services Board) but had not had much experience with using the internet prior to our "session" on Saturday. Florence has become somewhat of a "ruler" by which I measure myself. When she was a child, sometime around 1947, she was diagnosed with RA....the old country doctor told her parents (my husbands grandparents Howard and Mary) that Florence would become "bedridden" and to basically just expect to have to provide her with total care for the rest of her life. He couldn't have been more wrong. Florence has been going "mach 5 with her hair on fire" from the time she left her mothers womb; even today she is [I swear] in better overall health than I am. She doesn't take not one medication of any kind, and she has lived/and still lives a very active and busy life. I figure if she can rise above RA and not let it rule her life then I surely ought to be able to at least live outside of the pre-set margins/limitations that are imposed by this disease. Don't you think? I guess we all need a "hero" in our lives....amd she has become [one of] mine. So....just out of curiosity, I wonder....When ya'll are at your wits end with something in your life, whatever that may be, what do you do to "de-stress" and get some new perspective so you can re-group and continue on...??? I have had the same type of ritual since I was probably in my early 20's - a friend of mine suggested to me recently that what I do to de-stress is actually a symptom of depression. When things get to be too much for me I "sleep". I lay down, or "shut down" if you will....I have been known to sleep for as much as 12-14 hours during this process. Regardless of  the type of issue(s) or problem that is plaguing me if I sleep I always awaken re-charged and ready to do battle....and most often it produces a positive end result. Well, chime in and let me know what your strategy is....I am off to get a little coffee (liquid CPR as I call it...) in me so I can be as eloquent and resourceful as possible on this day. Have a good one.....Be safe, be well, and above all else...be Happy!