Tips for fighting the dark clouds
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LOL@Lynne. Me too I whine about the cold a lot.
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30 miles is still awesome .... And 30 miles more than I could,do!! Great job!!
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hahahaha Lynne! Me too! I hate cold and get cold easily sometimes. I live in the mountains where it sometimes goes well below zero. I have every heating resource available, wood stove in the dining room, central heat throughout and an electric blanket on the bed and I use them all. Solar panels would be awesome as well to cut our bills but I refuse to be cold! You are a stout woman Kiwi! I hope you get a warmer house soon too! Wendy, 30 miles is a lot! Especially if it is the first of the season...
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I'm hoping to get my bike out and tuned up soon. I'd feel good if I could manage 30 minutes! I did but some nice workout clothes at Sam's club today. My daughter will be starting summer break next week and she'll have me running around like crazy. I have to get in shape to keep up.
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I figure whatever we do is great as long as we keep trying. I still have my tumour in my chest they never removed it. This is apparently a new thing anyway I notice a marked difference in size after I've excerised . As long as we don't go crazy and get our heart rate going to hard. Have fun ladies that's the main thing
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KiwiCatMom/Terre, I like your idea of doing something novel as a way to feeling less negative. I will try to make a list of ideas for myself.
Aren't we all supposed to get a free pass that says we see enough doctors so we are exempt from dentist and eye doctor?!
Wendy and Artist, I understand that feeling of being different. My stage iv is not public knowledge. I sometimes get a weird feeling like I am the only real person on the set of a play, and all the characters don't know what is really going on. In a way, we are more in touch with the reality of being human, because we know the mortality that others can ignore.
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ShetlandPony - I so agree at free pass! No dentists, doctors, colds, flu, zits, etc. And I concur with the feeling different. Of course, I've always been a bit of an oddball - I'm a female engineer for starters.
But it does seem unreal somedays, especially since I have a lot of younger friends on Facebook (and in real life). Watching them and what's important to them, etc., is like watching a play during an out of body experience.For days when you can't get out of the house (or don't want to), I would highly recommend finding a website that always makes you laugh. www.damnyouautocorrect.com is a favourite of mine. Contains profanity, but makes me cry with laughter. So does LOL Cats, and a few others. My husband thinks I've lost the plot, but I sit and laugh until I cry. It's a good release and a "safe" way to cry, perhaps.
My fave from autocorrect:
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Oh, I had forgotten about that site. Exactly, it makes me laugh so hard I cry. Definitely need to go there again.
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I got to help with a photo shoot for a Kitten Inn (rescue group) calendar yesterday. This should help fight dark clouds.
Stunning guy made even more so by his great personality and how sweet he was with the kittens.
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needed a smile today Terre beautiful picture.
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Terre, thank you for your two latest posts. I am still laughing at Lost and Found. I will definitely check out that website. The Kitten Inn photo is great. I love the expression on the man's face.
Lynne
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I went out to my garden last night, and noticed that all the ripe strawberries were gone. I immediately started ranting to my DH about those pesky squirrels and chipmunks that get fat on my strawberries every year. When we went into the house, my dil told me that she and my granddaughter had been outside, and my 21 month old granddaughter tried a strawberry. She liked the first one so much, that she picked and ate all the red ones, then was going to start on the green ones until her mom stopped her. The funny thing is that she doesn't like other strawberries. At least mine are organic and sweet. Needless to say, was I was happy that she ate the berries and the critters did not. I won't apologize to the animals because they will probably hit my garden soon.
Lynne
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Too cute. I have such wonderful memories of eating raspberries by the eager handful at my grandparents' house.
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Lynne tha is the cutest story ever , you are so blessed. Terra hot guy with kitty doesn't get much better. So here is a pic from me. I have to sell my horses now but it doesn't stop me from dreaming.
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Love the strawberry story! Too cute.
Wendy - sorry you have to sell your horses, but nothing is forever. What a great photo!
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yes Shetland! Sometimes at work i do feel like the secret director of a weird play. Watching the people come and go and what they are complaining about can be quite amusing! or appalling.......LOL! Aww Lynne, that Strawberry story is very cute! Thanks for the link Kiwi, laughing is the best!
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There are so many terrible things reported in the news lately, that I decided to post a human-interest story to remind everyone that good things still happen. It doesn't start out good, but it gets there.
Last year my granddaughter's lacrosse coaches, a husband and wife team, had to stop coaching the nine year old girls because their older daughter, a high schooler, had slipped and fallen off a cliff. She was critically injured and suffered severe traumatic head injury. At first they didn't know if she would survive. She improved, but the doctors said that she would never be able to walk or talk again.
The other night I turned on the news just as an interview was beginning. The person being interviewed was that teenage girl who was in such bad shape last year. She was with her high school lacrosse team, in uniform, cheering them on and directing them during the play. She was proud to say that, in spite of the doctors' predictions, she can not only talk and walk, now she can even run again. She still has a limp, and her speech is just a bit slurred, but she continues to improve. Next fall she will begin applying to college, just like so many other girls her age. Her goal is to be able to play in at least one lacrosse game next year. I think she will accomplish that goal. I hope she continues to make progress.
Maybe I was touched so much because my son and his family knew the girl's parents and sister, but the story warmed my heart. I don't know if it was the girl's determination, her youth and good health, the skilled medical team, prayers, luck, or something else that gave the family the happy ending that they needed. I suspect it was a combination of all those things. It is a reminder to me that good things happen around us every day.
Lynne
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Following this thread, enjoying the resilience of each of you. Hello from Alaska
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Hello Alaska
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KiwiCatMom, and all who have contributed to this thread,
I would like to thank you for posting all of these tips. My uncle was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and I was thinking about how I could help him. I collected some of the tips from this thread and sent them to him. He just called to say that they "really hit the spot." The collective wisdom of BCO.org is truly special.
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Elaine, what a great idea and gift for your uncle ... A very special thing for you to do! Can you imagine how much wisdom is spread over all the Bco threads
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I think the tips here are invaluable for getting through the dark days of cancer. Even those "ho-hum" moments. My tip for getting myself through is to keep a journal to remind myself of the things I have to be thankful for, and reread it when I'm down. I type faster than I write, so I keep a word processing app (Werdsmith) on my IPAD, which has a Bluetooth keyboard on it. When I am having an introspective moment, I get it out and write about whatever comes to mind. I have an ongoing letter open to each of my kids, husband, and loved ones, that I add to when I think of some memory or thought I want to tell them. Sometimes it's a reminder to tell them in person, sometimes it's a thought I want to leave them after I am gone.
When I need to refill my "gratitude tank" I reread the entries and am glad for the reminder. Everyone needs to be reminded at times what they are thankful for as they go through the cancer battle and just life. So what am I thankful for?
I'm thankful that the treatment I am going through has given me the last three years of time with my family. I'm thankful the lung mets are reduced and I'm off oxygen for now. I am thankful I can still work on craft projects to leave my family a photo journal. I am thankful I'm here to give them each positive affirmations daily. I am thankful this chemo didn't make my hair fall out, even if it's thin and wirey. I'm thankful for the love of my husband and kids. I'm thankful for finally learning how to live in them moment.
What are you thankful for
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What a wonderful thread! Thank you all, so much, for sharing what you do to cope with dark clouds. I use a lot of the same methods. Sometimes I pull myself out by walking. Just getting out of the house can be a huge gift. Working in the garden, watching it grow. Mindfulness meditation. riding my bike (when I can). Swimming.
But on days when I need to be sad, I let myself, because how will I get to other side of grieving without acknowledging my sadness and giving it a safe place (maybe at home, maybe at my psych's office) to come out, in tears, in words....going through the dark can bring me back to the light.
And Netflix is a good friend on a really bad day. ;-)
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YES! Comedy movies are the best for lifting my spirits instantly....
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Bump so new people can find and read these tips for fighting the dark clouds. I just re-read it all. Now I am going to make myself go take a walk, because I know that will make me feel good.
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Good idea Shetland! I try to immerse myself in my favorite hobby, making jewelry. The intensity of designing really distracts my mind. Funny TV and movies helps me a LOT as well. Riding my bike when the weather is good.
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This wonderful thread has been dormant for a while. I know that Terre, who started this thread, has been away from the boards and busy living her life. That is the very best way to fight the dark clouds.
Now that spring has finally arrived, I am starting to get my hands dirty in the garden again. Some of my spring bulbs and perennials have started poking up through the soil, and I am eager to dig, transplant, thin out, and add to my gardens. The garden clubs, women's clubs, and PTA always have plant sales in May, and I am looking forward to getting some new, healthy plants at relatively good prices. I look forward to picking flowers and harvesting vegetables again this summer. My granddaughters will be out there in June and July picking the strawberries and eating them as soon as turn red. Last year, none of them made it into the house. Staying busy in the garden and watching things grow makes me feel good and brings me sunshine to block those dark clouds that creep into my head.
Lynne
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Lynne so cool I was a big gardener too . You always know an activity is for you when you realize you're smiling while doing it. When I get stronger I plan of doing a bit more in the garden too. You are so lucky to have grandchildren to share this with. I will make due with walking my dog in the neighbourhood and trying to remember all the names of the different plants and enjoying their spring show
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Lynne so cool I was a big gardener too . You always know an activity is for you when you realize you're smiling while doing it. When I get stronger I plan of doing a bit more in the garden too. You are so lucky to have grandchildren to share this with. I will make due with walking my dog in the neighbourhood and trying to remember all the names of the different plants and enjoying their spring show
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Lynn and Wendy, fancy meeting you two here!!! I was just looking at my three acres of buffalo grass. Wishing I could begin digging,planting,mulching,composting...... it is a wonderful way to fight the dark clouds!!!!
We have a snow storm in the works for Friday and Saturday. Here in Co. we can't plant anything until Memorial Day. I have actually seen it snow here on July 4th. Crazy!!! Check out the therapy I have in store for me...
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