Hello Everyone,
I thought I would ask you all what you do that makes you feel better about yourself while living with the chronic illnesses?
Including things like clothes, makeup, hair, etc.
It helps me some if I try to get dressed up a bit. Or something new to wear that fits correctly, and is pretty. I love light scents that make me feel good, but not over whelming.
Hugs,
susanep :)
I love nature. No judgment or unrealistic expectations from animals, birds or trees. Just beauty. One thing I have noticed after all these years of being ill, I have a greater appreciation for the little things.
Carebear I sure do feel that way too about the little things, simple things. They have become my big things. I also love love nature. I love all the animals little and big. They are so innocent, and just being who they are.
I do feel blessed to have seen these things in such a deeper way than I would have before being ill with a chronic illness.
I have thought at times that being chronically ill makes a person look at what are the real priorities in ones life.
Hugs,
susanep :)
Hi :)
I concentrate on what I CAN do rather than what I can't. Good days I make sure I go for a walk. Want to keep moving. Once a week I go to a choir that I have been going to for 10 years now. We try to get the singing right but we also have a good laugh when we are there. Laughter is good medicine!
I don't care about hair and clothes. When I was in good shape for them, I didn't have the money. Now I genuinely don't care. It's good because shopping for clothes is a nightmare anyway. Get totally exhausted in the changing room so now I buy from charity shops - and things can go back if I get them home and they don't fit - or I shop online. Don't do a lot of it anyway.
Cannot wear make-up as I developed a perfume allergy so I can't spend a lot of time near other people with make-up or hairspray either. They give me eczema! keeps me away from a lot of household products too so I do a minimum of housework. (Hubby does more - and washes floors and things when I'm out)
I spend a lot of time online and enjoy people I meet there. Keep in touch with my kids online too. I like card making and scrapbooking - both fairly sedentary activities.
When the kids were little - and I had no diagnoses - I used to line up activities for them that I could go and sit and watch rather than doing things that I had to participate in. Luckily I managed to pick things they liked and they all grew up OK.
Take care - Scottie :)
Dear Susan,
Try reading How to Be Sick, by Toni Bernhard, if you haven't yet. It helps enormously with the entire issue, starting with our 'attitude' which is key.
What helps for me:
1. Clothes and shoes I like, that make me feel good. Inexpensive is fine, I order most things on line from Amazon, Chadwicks, etc.
2. Grooming (nails, hair, make up).
3. Supportive groups like this, activities I can do (maintaining web sites, organizing book clubs, reading, playing on line games (Word with Friends), keeping up with Facebook friends.
4. Having an orderly and clean environment.
5. Keeping my medications, and health products organized and easily available. Putting things in attractive baskets or boxes so they are available, but not looking cluttered.
6. Planning brief activities that I enjoy, and being willing to 'bow out' if I'm not up to it.
7. Developing a set of medical professionals I trust and like.
8. Going to the fitness center for exercise.
From my windows I look out at trees and woods, a brook, bird feeders (my husband keeps them filled), a hummingbird feeder.
I have two cats who keep me company and keep me entertained in many ways.
Keeping up with family and helping where possible. Today two of our grandchildren Chloe 7 and Sam 12) are at our house since they are sick (I hope it isn't that 'throwing up' virus!) and their little beagle (Luke) is here too. So a new element has been introduced to the day!
I go to PT to help with balance issues related to my PN later today.
My life is rather quiet, and I'm lucky I have a husband to help out.
Hugs, Elaine
Gardening :)
Also, I love raising babies and taking care of other things. When I can't or won't take care of myself, I will still put my boots on and go clean the babies pen, or make sure they are fed, and interact with all my animals. That gets me exercise and that helps me feel better. Without that I seem to fall into bump-on-log-syndrome. Then I feel really crappy.
Sunshine makes my life better. I love to sit in my garden and chat with people going by. And my little grandkids love playing in my garden too, which is a bonus. The sunshine definitely makes me feel better and gives me a boost.
We have dreams of moving to Florida if we ever win the lottery :)
Kathyx
Also for me, and I know some will have something to say on it, but I love my coffee. Me and hubby enjoy our coffee time. It's not just a cup of coffee, it's an event. :)
susanep
The first thing I thought of when reading this thread is the smell of lilacs in my house! Every year I get to pick the lilacs out of my yard and smell them for a delicious week. Love love.
Also my rabbit cracks me up when he plays with my dog and cat.
Wow,sixty, the smell of lilacs, one of the greatest smells in the world! (they don't grow here because our winters aren't cold enough).
I had a memory the other day of the smell of iris, too, which is wonderful and much 'lighter'.
A rabbit a dog and a cat would be marvelous to watch together!
Coffee is my mainline drug, Susan.
Sunshine makes my life so much better. That's what I liked about El Paso TX: 80% FULL SUN days.
Ok 4Kids, what 'babies' do you raise in pens? So interesting!
You all know how to see and enjoy life as it is happening all around you. That is the best!
Hugs, Elaine
I go through different types of emotions and things that perk me up. The change in seasons is one thing that I enjoy and it is free.
The one thing that never changes is my love of sunsets, full moons and rainbows. After a rain I can look to the East and across a mile of fields to the neighbors who have a nice old house and big old barn. We often get double rainbows over that barn and they are such long big ones that end up at the pot of gold.lol
The thing that perks me up is to get out of the house. I like to go shopping at the Walmart, Menards, etc. I can only take so much though so have to take my pills for my muscle weakness and make sure that I pace myself and don't stay too long. All that fun usually ends up with a lot of fatigue and sitting in the recliner for a few days.
I don't mind driving places by myself so that makes things more simple. I have to admit that at my age and still managing to work in nursing and take care of others), I don't mind being at home. I enjoy certain TV shows and love to read, do research on the computer and visit with family. Every day is a blessing in spite of being under the weather. The good days are really a gift. Irish
I don't morne my past life much anymore and I do believe that age and living through the death of a spouse has really just changed my whole perspective on live. Every morning with a fresh cup of coffee still makes me very happy.
Holding my 2 little grandsons (4 months and 7 months old) and rocking them to sleep. Feeling their sweet, little, chubby, warm, baby bodies close to me makes my heart overflow with love and thanksgiving. When they are awake, I can't stop talking to them and I know they are listening! And they coo back to me!
For me there is nothing that can top that grandmotherly feeling. I start to remember when my children were their age and I wonder where the time went?
Now my son will be getting married in less than two weeks. My only son and my last child to "tie the knot". I have been feeling okay recently. Not great but okay. Just need to keep feeling good through to the wedding!
Kathy
Hi Elaine!
We raise calves, a beef calf and a dairy cross calf, we have baby chicks, ducklings, baby kitties, and whatever else ends up giving birth around our little farm. I am really hoping for some goat babies too. ;)
Lilacs are the best. Oh and they smell so nice. ummmm.
I would love to have some chickens for laying eggs. My grand parents raised large houses of chickens when I was growing up. They were some of the chicken growers for meat that went out to the stores.
Later as I was a teen my parents took over for them, and became chicken growers until my mothers health started becoming a problem. So I was around this a lot with lots of fond memories.
I do not desire to become a chicken grower as it was called then, but just a coop to have some chickens for laying eggs. I use to help my grandma gather eggs when I was 6 years old.
I could manage with just that to take care of, and find such pleasure in it.
Hugs,
susanep :)
I recently had four Nigerian dwarf goats give birth. Nine frolicking kids, six doelings and 3 bucklings. They are so much fun! Even if all I can do is sit with them, they end up on my lap and nibbling my clothes.
Horses, dogs, sushi, coffee, books, movies, sunshine, cool nights, a warm comforter, hot showers, the smell of rosemary and lemon, cooking a good meal, music, my pickup truck, a funny text from a friend, and most of all my family.
And all of you guys, as well! ;D
Sjogren's sucks, but so much of life is GOOD. Even when I can't enjoy it, it makes me feel better to think about all the people and animals on the planet who are having a GOOD day.
I'm having my little grandchildren for a sleepover tonight. They always make my day special.
Booking excursions for our Hawaii cruise at Christmas to celebrate our 40 wedding anniversay. Extra special because it is a once in a lifetime trip from our home in the UK.
Kathyx
Quote from: Suslew on May 13, 2015, 08:47:16 PM
I recently had four Nigerian dwarf goats give birth. Nine frolicking kids, six doelings and 3 bucklings. They are so much fun! Even if all I can do is sit with them, they end up on my lap and nibbling my clothes.
I love goats! I couldn't keep ours out of my garden. I keep wanting more.
And I love my chickens. I only have 14 right now, down from a lot -- fox came in last summer. Really it is enough to keep us in eggs. They are hardly any work, and so much fun. We are getting 25 meat birds this summer--hopefully I will get 20 or so into the freezer. Cheapest and tastiest meat you can raise so quickly!
Spending fun time with family is so nice.
I have my "Garden of Delights".. Love seeing my little babies, ( like 4kids) leaves peep up in the spring. I call them and blooms " Little blessings"
Oh what a nasty winter.
During season I pick-up sale perennials/plants.. my 'little orphans', that I nurse back to health. And have some I over-winter indoors. Now am into propagating more and teaching 7 yr. old granddaughter (including science terms)
And put together an alcove ..."centering area" where I sit and well "get Centered", more birds and butterflies now. Garden friend, neighbor is in Europe.. and I miss her. But, it pushed me talk to others. So a wider net. A good thing.
I will stop the car for goats.. love Nubians.
Sometimes I will drive into nice developments and take pics of landscaping for ideas..lol
For a bit of a perk-up sometimes I will give a light spritz of my favorite scent before bed.. INIS "The Energy of the Sea" made in Ireland.
? If I feel chronically Ill say 40% of the time: then I feel chronically OK 60% of the time.
So I focus as much as possible on the chronically well.. so that 'this' remains a facet of who I am and not the sum total. Just put a note in diary and move on until I see Dr.
We just adopted a 7yr old cat, Audrey,, darkest chocolate fur with heterochromia cat eyes, one brown, one gold. Sleeps on her back and looks like an otter. LOL.
Winters here in the North are more difficult. I don't watch TV and not a shopper.
So will need to work on that. ( Have a quilt in mind to make out of cashmere sweaters..lol)
Love reading the pick-up tips here.
Quietdynamics I enjoyed reading yours. I felt more peaceful just reading it. :)
I can hear the rain at this moment hitting down hard on the tin roof we had put over our front porch for that very reason. It sounds so calming, and reminds me when I was a little girl, and we lived in this old house with an old tin roof. I would take a big old comfy warm quilt out with me, and bundle up while listening to the rain, and almost fall asleep.
It feels good to me watching my fur babies eat and after potty time, then later in evening when they fall asleep, and make those sounds and little jerks of their feet as if they are running chasing after something.
I always feel good if I get something new planted or a new pot of flowers set out. I enjoy when I feel well enough to cut back any unhealthy twigs on my butter fly bush or my spirea bush.
I love realizing I am content with a simple life.
susanep :)
I think I replied on this thread already, but justin case I didn't:
Music
Chocolate
Writing
visiting with friends (real ones) and family
photography (including "playing with pixels")
learning
and a new fun thing since I recently discovered a huge consignment shop nearby - browsing through it looking for hidden treasures
(one nightstand set contained a unpaid check from 1957 for $75 payable to a generations removed distant cousin - that bank no longer exists which was ironically a predecessor bank to the one I retired from [small world]- a very old still in wrapping Howard Johnson's toothpick, a really funny business card the contents of which I can't type here as it contains a couple of expletives, a gorgeous framed quilt square circa 1988 framed in excellent condition, an old Billy Graham tract circa 1985)
not necessarily in that order, although for now browsing the consignment shop is higher up on the list.
I enjoy all of the ones you mentioned Amanda, except my son is the photographer.
Hugs,
susanep
I like it when I watch an inspirational show on tv, or even online that makes me feel blessed in spite of my own struggles.
susanep :)
Wandering outside early in the summer morning, barefoot and still in pjs, feeling the damp grass below, drinking my coffee, greeting the cats and watering my flowers.
Singing really loud with the radio in the car.
Cooking outside and watching the summer moon come up.
Writing, hoping I can do the story and the characters justice.
Talking and laughing about nothing in particular with my sons. I am 55, my sons are 31 and 24. My husband refers to us as "you teenagers".
Road trips with my husband across the amazing landscape of the American Southwest. If you aren't amazed by that, there's no help.
Reading. Books and books and books.
I love to listen to old time radio programs on my smartphone. Shows like Boston Blackie, Box 13, Philip Marlowe, Suspense, Sherlock Holmes and Yours Truly Johnny Dollar. For a good old western I will catch Gunsmoke or the Tales of the Texas Rangers.
I am not quite old enough to have listened to these programs when they were "new", but enjoy them so much just the same. I will be outside scratching in the dirt or pulling weeds, and in the winter when I am able to shovel, there I am with ear buds on and listening intently to my "who-done-its" on the phone. They even help me if I can't sleep.
If you are interested, there are many apps you can download for your smartphone. Or you can listen to many on the computer as well. Mystery, drama, comedy, sci-fi...
My faith helps me so much.
I finished a mini quilt (wall hanging) for my latest swap, and it turned out nice. It helps me feel I am doing something.
Talking to a friend or someone closer in my family and laughing about silly things is nice.
Watching animal shows.
susanep :)
We have been looking after two grandkids today, a 9 year old boy and his 6 year old sister. Together, we took our little Yorkie for a walk in the woods. We saw frog spawn and a frog, as well as bluebells and buttercups. It was only half an hour in the fresh air but it was really nice. I struggled to walk back, but got there eventually. The kids had a whale of a time.
We have them tomorrow morning so are planning a short ride to walk around a lake and feed the ducks. Then we will deposit them with their parents and I will come home to sleep.
Life is good.
Kathyx
It makes me feel better to be able to do some small thing for my dear husband. Earlier Sunday night after he went to bed ahead of me. I went into our bedroom, and rubbed lotion on his lower legs and feet that are so dry from his diabetes.
It didn't take long, but felt good to do that small thing for him. He enjoyed it too. :)
I have insomnia so not always in the bed at the same time. Sometimes I go first, and he comes later.
susanep.. want to come over and give me a massage.
Yesterday I was able to get out and do some "square inch' gardening.. lol.
The weather was so clear and beautiful.
DH and granddaughter .. now 7, went outside to practice golf. He found a left handed golf set, irons and bag for her online. It was so heart filling watching them. I was the cheerleader. "Great swing, great form, Wow.. Rock on Girl"
Used lightweight hegdtrimmer to cut a forsythia bush. Learned it was so much easier to just whack them resting trimmer at my hip.. battery died and there were a few long branches coming out the middle top center.. Looks like a punk hair cut.. so took photo of our Punk Bush. Going to leave it that way for a while...lol.
Wonder what neighbors will think.. :D
Sent photo to daughter in Colorado and she loved it..lol.
Hmm .. maybe start a trend if it looks like a water fountain effect?
Quietdynamics, that is funny. I kept developing a picture in my mind as I read your description of your punk tree. ;) I use to have a great lightweight weed eater that I could manage, but it finally bit the dust.
I remember when my son was about 10 years old, and decided he wanted to play golf, and we got him a used set of clubs. We always tried to reinforce whatever he wanted to try as long as it was legal, and did not harm anyone. We did not golf so he didn't really have anyone to help him, but he went on to do many different things.
Today he has a good job, a great wife, flies large remote control planes as a hobby and to relax, is now a professional photographer, flies a real plane, he and his wife go 4-wheeling, camping, and have their own chickens for eggs. ;)
As he grew up, I remember buying him a skate board at a yard sale. He then was out doing all kinds of dangerous tricks with a bigger one. Then bought him a little balloon tire motor bike, and after that he always kept in mind of another bike, but faster etc. He decided one day to take some art lessons, and enjoyed them for fun. He played a trumpet in band, his wife a flute. Since that time, he learned to play a guitar, a banjo, an a violin. His wife plays the organ in church. She loves to cook, and tells him to stay out of her kitchen except when dinner is ready then go to the dining room. ;D He has a work shop, and so is always doing something.
I say all this to say, not only am I proud of both of them, but (I wish I had just a bit of that energy).
Kudos to your grand daughter. That sounds like a very special day.
I recently read an article that talked about rats hitting a button for drugs over and over. Ironically, when they gave them a rat playground they stopped doing that. The result of the test was the idea that "your cage" is what decides how happy or unhappy you are. That made perfect sense to me because until recently I had very little control over my personal environment, its appearance, and how often I felt like leaving it. Then I got "a cage upgrade" of sorts.
Partly, just having a beautiful setting with nature around definitely helped. Feeling some control over my personal space and making positive choices to alter it the way I wanted also definitely helped. But the biggest change is that the nicer my personal space became the more I felt like going other places so I don't feel like I'm in a "cage" at all anymore.
When I feel low energy (which naturally still happens... just less often) I take it easy and baby myself a little. And when I feel a little better, I take advantage of that without overdoing it. Specifically, gardening, art projects, home projects, yard projects, a little exploratory baking, and so on all entertain me as long as I'm willing to accept that making a pound cake and doing the dishes from the pound cake baking may not happen within the same 24 hour period. LOL And as long as I'm not mentally beating myself up for the dishes sitting in the sink.... I feel much better for having started than if I just say "to heck with it all" and never try to bake at all. The same goes for all of those interests that entertain me.
Just this week I got some guys to fence my yard. I didn't do any of the work but I tell you just bringing out beers and watching people work can tire me out the way actual work used to before SJS. I ended up taking a mini sofa hibernation the day after they finished for half a day. LOL But the thing is knowing my dog has a safe yard and it's secure has made me more interested in going outside than I was. I feel better everytime I do something to improve my surroundings however small it is. :) GG
Ashwoman I agree that our surroundings do make us feel better when they are nice, comfortable, just being what makes us feel good in some way to enjoy. I want the same for my home.
My porch needs painting, but hasn't got done yet. Hopefully it will soon. I want to fix a little area outside my home for relaxing.
I have a pair of wooden dutch shoes my husband bought me at a yard sale that I want to put some house plants in. Little things like that make me happy, and less stressed.
Susanep- I definitely believe in setting myself up to succeed with right sized projects. If I have a big one, I either delegate or I eat that elephant one bite at a time. LOL
GG
Ashewoman I like the one bite at a time. I have to do that too. It does help.
I got a bit of sewing done today in spite of feeling not well, so that is a big success. :)
Well I found out that I was in good spirits even after being in too much sun, but it was worth it for a special day. I am trying to recover now. :) :)
Having a really good laugh over something. It feels so relieving. :)
Reading or watching inspirational stories of what others also go through, and how they cope always makes me feel I am blessed.
My husband and I got Sirius Radio in our cars. I love to go for rides and listen to 60's music. Sometimes I actually (attempt to) sing along.
jpd
Hi
I love lots of different types of music and the other evening spent a couple of hours listening to music on my laptop. One of my old time favourites is Elizabethan Serenade by Roger Whittaker. It reminds me of watching The Thornbirds with my grandma in the 60's. I also love Irish music and listened to Foster and Allan singing A Bunch of Thyme. That reminds me of a summer day out with our newly-born second son in 1981. And finally, I watched a YouTube video by an amazing young man called Jacob Blackburn. The song was Make you Feel my love. It sent shivers down my back! He's the son of someone I know and was bullied at school. I wonder how the bullies will feel when he's rich and famous.
kathyx
1. swimming
2. getting a good night's rest
3. spending time with my dogs and hubby
4. having an unclutterred home but that doesn't happen very often. LOL....
5. eating, good, fresh veggies
6. going to the beach (with tons of sunscreen and an umbrella) and just listening to the ocean, watching the birds, taking a swim and smelling the wonderful salt air
7. listening to some music that I like