Been thinking a lot about priorities the past few days while trying to get my exercise area reorganized. My focus, since 2010, has always been on my health and wellness.
It was around 2010 when my health really took a down turn. I didn't have insurance at the time and had to figure things out on my own to feel better. When I did finally get a doctor that started on my nightmare journey with racists, fatists, misogynists, and other epic, broken medical "professionals"
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I had to do a lot of my own research, spend a lot of money out of pocket to get independent testing and analysis and consultations with doctors in different countries that weren't as broken as the ones here. I had to become my own advocate and I spent thousands to figure a lot of these things out. At the end of 5 or 6+ years I had binders of information that I collected on my own health through meticulous testing, experimenting, data collection, and more.
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By the time I finally got insurance and access to doctors, none of them were interested in everything I'd figure out about my health. My binders of information were never looked at by anyone until I got 2 amazing endocrinologists and they both were very impressed with all the work I had done and actually agreed with my conclusions. They worked WITH me and WITH my findings to figure out the best course of action which was amazing but that took most of my life to get that worked out.
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I have 2 autoimmune diseases and PCOS and that means I have to be focused on my health 24/7/365 ... with diet, exercise, supplements, medications, herbal and other things including the sauna regularly, cupping, and TENS. Keeping my physical health up is just one of my priorities. The others are mental and spiritual which also require a focus on scheduling the things I need for balance daily and even hourly. This includes #sleeptracking and other things that contribute to my mental wellness.
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It is a full time job.
It requires my full time focus ... it's not something I take lightly as all my data collection shows. I want to live as best I can despite the #chronicpain and #chronicillness issues I have and maintaining balance takes FOCUS and ATTENTION to several different life aspects: mental, physical, and spiritual.
It's routine at this point for me but most people really don't have the time to focus on these things as much as they probably should. It takes a lot.
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In the midst of all this health focus, I often neglect my creative outlets but I have been working on trying to make sure I prioritize those. I have been working on my podcast when I am feeling well enough and also continuing to outline and take notes on continuing the next part of my novel. I haven't been able to do much actual writing but I have tons of notes and several scenes outlined for when I can.
Creative. Leisure. Work. Meditation. Sleep. Exercise.
Those are the things I schedule.
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The trick is making sure that I get those things - 𝘾𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚. 𝙇𝙚𝙞𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚. 𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙠. 𝙈𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣. 𝙎𝙡𝙚𝙚𝙥. 𝙀𝙭𝙚𝙧𝙘𝙞𝙨𝙚 - in on a daily and weekly basis. Not to mention some of those things require MORE TIME than others.
The scheduling required to do all of that is complicated and I have to work around #painflares and other related issues of #PCOS and #MCTD.
It is tricky. It can be time consuming. It can even be frustrating to try and get everything in the way I need to ... BUT it's worth the effort.
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Y'all know my favorite quote from Mushiya Tshikuka:
𝘚𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘢𝘭. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘛𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 5 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴, 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 2 ½ 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 1 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯? 𝘛𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯? 𝘛𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 1 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘥𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘺? 𝘛𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘺, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘭𝘺?
... that's what it takes to have the right balance for as healthy a life as you can.
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One of the biggest obstacles for me is exercise due to #chronicpain and limited space. I have tons of equipment but it wasn't always accessible.
If I'm in a pain flare but have to exercise, I'm less likely to do it if I have to spend 20 minutes putting together some equipment that had to be broken down for storage or if I have to lift 15lbs to bring something in from another room.
I want to be able to just walk over, get on and do what I need to do.
Making space for that took 3 days.
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It was worth 3 days and moving the sauna which took 2 of us. In that 3 days I really pushed my body and hurt myself but it was necessary to ensure that exercise could be done quickly and effortlessly and not be hindered by anything.
The ONLY thing I have to move is the cat exercise wheel to access the treadmill and that's something I can do quickly with one hand. Everything is available and I have plenty of space for my VR workouts especially now that the #RotoVR will be arriving soon.
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The planning and the effort to get things setup over the past several days was also exhausting in it's own way but in the end it was worth it because going forward it will be much less stressful to get something done that needs to get done.
The effort you put into making the time to ensure things go smoothly and don't have unnecessary obstacles is key to staying on track and establishing routines that you're more likely to stick with.
Planning is everything.
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I use tech for this reason as well.
The less things I need to think about, the less steps it takes to get something done, the more likely it is that everything I need to do will get done.
With #chronicpain and #chronicillness every single spoon matters. Every expenditure of energy has to be chosen carefully.
If I can press ONE button that turns on my lights, starts the coffee maker, turns on the TV, opens the blinds, and all I have to do is step on the treadmill, that's only 1 spoon.
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When you break things down into energy expenditure - and that includes mental energy - you start realizing that a lot of the things that hinder you or keep you from moving forward have to do with too much expenditure in the wrong areas and not enough expenditure in the areas that you need. Many people waste so much time getting ready to do things that they don't have the energy to actually do them.
I only use energy for the things I NEED to use it for. I don't waste energy on inefficiency.
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@thewebrecluse As l often find with your threads, although we are very different in many ways, we agree on things that are most important
You: "Do what you need to do for yourself. Make the time"
Me: "Doing what l can, while l ( still) can!"
@KarenSohne In my short 50+ years I have yet to meet anyone who agrees with me on anything 🤣 that's just the way it goes.
You have to focus on your own needs and do what is best for YOURSELF. "Do you" is what I always say. I share who I am here because I believe in being 100% authentic. I share what I've learned and if it helps someone that's always a wonderful thing ❤️
Getting all of my priorities in order at the end of 2024 is key.
Many things are going to change by next year and most of them may not be for the better. I have to ensure that I'm in the best position mentally, physically, and spiritually to be able to continue forward no matter what happens in the world or with my health ...
Taking the past few months and the past few days to get everything in order has been worth the time, effort, and energy.
Do what you need to do for you. Make the time.