I'm Back!

Wow, I had no idea it had been so long since I blogged. Guess I've been doing really well so had nothing to say - ha! ha! Actually, I've just been very busy, mostly with traveling. Not a lot to complain about, well, except physical pain which has given me a different kind of humility.

I've judged others who are in chronic pain for no apparent reason. I've thought that they should exercise more, lose weight, or meditate. Now I know that sometimes, one cannot control physical ailments. I've tried almost everything for my current chronic pain and the best thing to do is rest.

Unfortunately, when I rest too much, I tend to get depressed which is a different kind of pain. My solution, just for today? I tried other kinds of exercise: one is writing quickly at my keyboard in order to get out a lot of frustration and exercise my brain cells - the other is to bicycle rather than walk.

The latter was always my favorite form of exercise but when my doctor told me I should walk instead because it is weight-bearing, I stopped. Then a friend of mine in Europe told me that older people there bicycle when walking is painful and do just fine. So other than the fact that the hills around here are difficult for someone who hasn't biked in a while, I was able to move virtually pain-free.

So even in our darkest hour when we think there is no way out, that we have run out of choices, that there is no solution, if we "keep an open mind" and "listen and learn" we often hear just what we need to hear. My brain woke up and got out of its depression by using my negative energy, feeling down and frustrated and a bit angry, to write. And my body woke up aerobically when I discovered an old favorite form of exercise.

I've also learned that I can accomplish just as much mentally, physically, and spiritually by doing a little bit at a time rather than a bunch all at once, which is how I used to operate. I'm even beginning to practice the piano and vocalize a bit. I'm not spending hours a day on anything and finding I can fit so much more in a day when I stop thinking I have to do everything in blocks of two hours.

So I'm back to blogging because "just for today" I had a few extra minutes :-)