Gum on My Shoe

I keep adding little habits that make a big difference.. Since I have illness I can't exercise like others so I started being creative about what I can do.. After my morning meditations, in bed, I move my body any which way that gives a stretch and doesn't hurt.. Bicycles, scissors, circles.. No counting just feeling when it's time, and really feeling my body.. Having a relationship with it.. When I hop out of bed i greet myself out loud lovingly and cheerfully.. Then I look in the mirror and say out loud 'I love you'.. These little things go a long way to setting my day for eating and moving with awareness and care.. Love really matters.. Care to share any things that work well for you?.. Fran

I can't promise I won’t get scared sometimes. But I am not afraid . Before meeting Fran I had little direct experience of illness, primarily because throughout my adult life I chose to distance myself from its impact. My sister was diagnosed with manic depression in her early twenties, and my mother has known mental breakdown, depression and anxiety. In each case I fled the scene, literally and emotionally, appalled at the depth of their need. Years later a friend developed multiple sclerosis, and whilst I was not utterly absent, I helped her very little. Her sobbing telephone calls terrified me. I rarely phoned her and never visited. Instead, I wrote letters to her every day through what turned out to be the final two years of her life. It allowed me to feel I was doing something, but it was not what she most needed. There is little honour in absenting oneself from the pain of others but I can be honest enough with myself to admit that I have done so. It is fortunate that ...

Let the past fade.. Let the future fade.. Let all that no longer serves you fade.. Live in the vibrancy of the moment that is now.. No matter how dark or light.. It is the rainbow.. And the gold.. ~fjh  

Why is it so hard for people to speak their truth? Child sexual abuse is an epidemic in our country and we need to stop it. Mental Illness is Taboo. We need to educate the public. Stand up for something, even if it means standing alone. I started my blog to find my voice. Speak up about what happened to me. My family didn't like it. Five sisters and their children have disowned me, all because I wanted to tell the truth. I don't think it is right that he got away with it. I believe telling my story is helping me go from the victim to the survivor. It took me forty four years and a diagnosis of Bipolar II, PTSD, GAD, and Agoraphobia to be able to find out who I truly was. I love the new me. I have found a very compassionate, loving person under all that façade. I am no longer afraid to love and be loved. I have learned that I can be me. I don't have to fit into someone else's "Box" of what they believe I should be. I am just me. I don't need anyone...

Be aware of the stories we tell ourselves, especially those that begin "I'm not the kind of person who ..." I'm not suggesting we ignore them all, some may still be valid. ("Marty, you're not the kind of person who attempts to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel." That one still works for me.) Most, though, are little more than strategies we've evolved to keep from expanding our horizons. "Marty, you're not the sort of person who would do a charity zip-wire challenge from the Tyne Bridge." "Marty, you're not the sort of person who strikes up conversations with strangers in coffee shops." "Marty, you're so not the sort of person who writes a book about supporting someone with mental illness." Well actually, it seems I am that sort of person, after all! Let's listen to the stories we tell ourselves, and maybe we can rewrite a few of them. Marty

i am amazed at how one can be born into chaos, suffer rape, survive cult, endure domestic violence, create a successful career and lose it to discrimination and harassment, then lose physical health, lose mental health, lose partner, lose family, lose home, lose work, lose dog, lose community.. and then, without any of those things being replaced, find the only thing that truly matters.. maybe it’s how a phoenix is born.. ~fjh

Hi everyone, another blog for you, following on from my first back in November. This time I'd like to discuss how our routines get affected by such illnesses, using my own experience, as well as some ways to help yourself. I used to be quite an active person. I was never the Master of Activity of course; indeed my Dad often tried to get me out of the house and do more exercise and not be indoors so much on my laptop, but heyho! But I was able to attend the gym three or four times a week, wing chun (martial arts, for those who don't know) twice a week, and take walks maybe a couple of times a day. That was before my chronic fatigue began. I'm a lot less active now. I can't manage the gym at the moment, haven’t been in eight or nine months. I did try once or twice but I only managed ten minutes or so each time and wound up in bed, exhausted, for days afterwards. The payoff just isn't worth it while I'm like this. My walking has also been greatly reduced, ...