#539 – #RABlogWeek: Day 5 – Well Said!

auntie stress ra blog week

Another year, another #RABlogWeek. While I haven't been able to visit everyone, here are some words that resonated with me.

RADiabetes on Mental Health

"Today I am 60 and I am noticing that I may not have 30 years to spend enduring things. So with the help of Sheryl, therapy and age I have adopted a new mantra. I do not have time to endure things.  If it is not fun I simply do not do it. I can endure, but today I do it with a good laugh and sometimes a sigh. It’s been long enough. I realize not everything is fun, but I look for the fun in everything."

IPerCyst on 7 Tips to Boost Your Mental Health

"While having doctors who listened really helped, I had to learn how to really focus on good mental health. Here are some of the ways I learned to practice good mental health."

Check them out by clicking Nicole's blog.

Kat Elton True Health Blog on The Experience of Rheumatoid Arthritis: How Much to Say

"It took years, but what I finally came to understand is this: RA is a lonely experience and it is okay to keep most of it to yourself with most of the people in your life, including loved ones. But it is vitally important that you have at least one person who you can share your full experience with.

For most of the people in my life I keep a “need to know” rule. I tell them about my pain if they will be affected by it in some way. Otherwise, I keep it to myself unless they ask me a direct question about it. I am honest when asked a direct question but I always choose my words carefully unless I am with someone who is safe. A safe person for me is someone who listens, and expresses support but doesn’t try to direct me or tell me how I’m feeling. I can tell if a person is safe by how I feel after I talk to them. If I feel worse, I need to scale back my level of openness about my suffering. If I feel better, I know the person is safe to open up to."

Arthritis Wisdom - My Number One Household Hack

"It seems as though it is always something. For someone who works very hard to make my RA footprint as small as possible in my day-to-day life, it sure is on my mind often, more like always! If it isn’t planning what’s for dinner keeping anti-inflammatory foods in mind it is assessing my schedule keeping over commitment and stress in mind. The disease seems like a full time job at times! My household hacks ease this footprint burden."

"It is not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential." - Bruce Lee

The Life and Adventures of Cateepoo on Tips and Tricks

"I think it is my stubborn streak (or possibly stupidity) that prevents me from buying any gadgets that are intended to make life with RA easier. It is silly I know, but by refusing to accept them into my life, I somehow feel like I have taken a stand against RA. But, if I am honest, I have learned many tricks to work around my limitations."

Phat50 Chick with RA on The best tips from those living with RA

"Attitude. I say attitude is everything. I say Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you deal with it. That’s the greatest lesson I learned from a decade of therapy. It’s all on me. I can face each day in misery or I can squeeze joy out of small things - like a beautiful sunset, or a phone call from the right person. I have really learned to not sweat the small stuff. I urge others with RA to understand that there is very little we can control, beyond our own reactions to what happens to us. You can’t control everyone and everything around you, you can only control your response."

The Old Lady in My Bones on Along for the Ride

"I always thought RA was my journey but it became both of ours, and that was okay by him. Sometimes it’s a ride through a dark stormy night with no visibility - other times we hang our heads out the window and swallow the wind. Wherever the road takes us, it’s always an adventure, and I can’t wait to see where we travel next."

The Dog and Duck on Partners

"I argue that I am capable of doing something and he reminds me, sometimes gently, that I am not. He does not want to see me sick or in pain and does his best to keep it that way. We all know that does not work all the time."

The Seated View on My Best Friend

"That's when I started listening to my body, to what it had to say. I have memories of moments where I remember opening up and hearing it crying the way I wanted to cry, hearing  it tell me that it was trying, was doing its best and I realized that hating my body, blaming it and accusing it of betrayal meant hating myself.

That is when I realized that my body and I are partners in this life, that we support each other, that there is no separation between me and it. We are a whole, a unit and together, we get up every morning and we get through the day. Some days are good and some days are less good, but when I go to bed, I try to remember gratitude towards this, my best friend."

My Medical Musings on The End or the Start of a New Beginning

"It may be the end of life as you know it now but it can be the start of a whole new fulfilling life. That process takes time, even years but don’t lose hope. Keep dreaming & thinking about what you can physically & mentally cope with and eventually you too will reinvent yourself.

The end will be the start of a new beginning!"

Pollyanna Penguin's RA Blog

"I’d say all my hints and tips from hints and tips day earlier in the week also apply to ‘managing’ ones hobbies, and I have to say when it comes to pacing yourself I kinda fail…well, with this many hobbies how the heck am I supposed to pace myself? I mean really...

BUT I do try (with some gentle nagging from hubby) to stop doing whatever crafty thing (or painting thing or Spanish thing or natural history thing) is occupying my brain by about 9 pm each evening so that I have an hour to wind down before I go to sleep; and I do try really hard to pace myself at least by saying if I’m, for instance, going on a felting workshop one weekend, I won’t do a painting workshop the weekend before or after. (Epic fail on that this last month, but never mind – I had a ball on both weekend workshops!)"

Capture, Craft, and Cook on Hobbies #Redefining RA

"I enjoy finding beauty in our everyday objects. Anything can become a beautiful image with the right lighting and angle. That's how I like to view my life as well, there may be some ugly bumps and bruises, but look at it from a different angle or perspective, and suddenly it becomes beautiful again."

Speaking of words, the last word goes to Rick Phillips of the RADiabetes blog. Join me in giving him a standing ovation for not only his hard work, but also for his caring, sharing and great sense of humour. Thank you, Rick!

9 Replies to “#539 – #RABlogWeek: Day 5 – Well Said!”

      1. Yes. I did win the tea. During one of worse ski trips ever. Me too sick to ski and my husband broke his ankle and tore his Achilles’ tendon
        We survived 😃. But we have not gone back to Steamboat.
        Thank you again.

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