On January 24th, 2014, I closed the door on A Rheumful of Tips (ART for short). If only I could have closed the door on rheumatoid arthritis, at the same time! However, acceptance is part of my story, as you'll discover by reading Accepting, adapting, adopting on Live Bold Live Now, a compelling story campaign on Health Central.
Initially, ART was a one year, daily blogging project. I succeeded in posting on 365 consecutive days. Then, on Halloween 2013, the earth moved me out of retirement. Quite literally. We had a small earthquake here in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. It provided me with the impetus to continue sharing my tips, tricks and strategies for another 135 posts.
I've not been absent from the world of writing, though. I continue to blog on Auntie Stress Café and I also enjoy a monthly writing gig on HealthCentral, where I share more tips, tricks and strategies that you can choose to accept, adapt and/or adopt.
Lately, ART has been calling. I first heard a whisper in the summer which I promptly ignored. With the onset of September, which always feels like my new year - all those years spent teaching left an imprint on me - that whisper grew in volume.
It was by chance - or was it? - that I saw tweets from several of my favourite people (Lene Andersen, Cathy Kramer, Annette McKinnon and J.G. Chayko) discussing #RABlogWeek, hosted by Rick, who owns the blog, RADiabetes. So, here I go, again. Who knows how far I will go this time?! You can still add your voice by signing up here.
Now, to the point of this post. My story and probably yours as well, is all about rewriting. Each day, we have a chance to begin again, to rewrite our story in a way that is more meaningful to you. We can put into practice what we have learned. Sometimes, we fall or we fail, other times we struggle and we fight. We experience joy, love and success. We accept, adapt and adopt. We move on. I believe that our journey is about learning, changing and growing. Rheumatoid arthritis is a hard taskmaster, but it is important to keep in mind that although you may have RA, it doesn't have you.
Your story. How will you rewrite it today? How about tomorrow?
Marianna, well that puts me in some high company. We do get our chance each day to restart. I believe that we get to decide how we approach our days. Somedays I want to go back to bed. Other days, well I never want to quit. I find your wonderful blog so powerful about how to keep going.
Thank you for joining us this week!!
It’s a pleasure to meet you, Rick.
Thank you for taking the time to set #RABlogWeek up for a second year running.
It’s so true, there are days when RA forces us into hibernation. Hopefully, we don’t emerge like a grumpy old bear, but instead are revitalized and ready to go at ’em!
Yay!!!! I love having ART back!
Thanks, Cathy! 🙂