I think one of the most difficult things about illness is waking up each day, and the first thing that comes to your mind is, what will the body allow me to do today. I know it must be wonderful to not have to ask that question, to simply wake up, roll over, get out of bed with no twinge, ache, wobbly feeling......the alarm goes off, you smell the coffee brewing, and you head for the shower. Ah yes.....the start of another glorious day. It all sounds completely normal right? And it should, and I do oddly enough remember feeling like that at one time in my life, but that was then, and this is now. I am very grateful for those days, and often wish I could get them back, but this is my life now, and there is much to be grateful for when life is not so perfect.
Now something that might be helpful at this point, is to remember that a part of this is simply the aging process.....period....plain and simple. There comes a time when part of those things you experience as you wake up in the morning are completely normal, and to be expected if you're past 60. And you can wish, dream, hope, or wear yourself out trying to set the clock back, but after a while it will take a toll on your body. Even when we all pretty much understand those things we can do to keep the body healthy, you can't stop time, nor even predict when and where your body is going to develop problems, so it basically boils down to how you plan to accept this and find peace with exactly where you are at any given time physically.
Unfortunately, the world we live in currently, tells you that aging is not a good thing, and you must spend lots of money and time in not allowing yourself to get any older. And even to a degree is not very forgiving with those that are enduring a genetic predisposition to something that cannot be changed. I will say this quickly, in that it is very sad to me that life really is so short, and so much of that time is spent reacting, responding or dealing with what other people think about us. It's like carrying around a sack of rocks that weighs us down, and for what reason.......how other people see us? OK....so I got that out.
So my point here is, and I sometimes take a bit to reach it.......is that we ALL wake up to that clock, we all are faced with varying degrees of health, stress, loss, fear, sadness, limitations, and all of us as well have the capacity to feel the complete opposite. Happiness, joy, peace, love, contentment, well being, compassion.......the list could go on and on, and the more I type it, the more I want to feel the good stuff everyday. However........there are going to be days, maybe few, maybe many, where through no fault of your own are simply going to have to be good enough, no matter. No matter how I wake up, what the body says or dictates, how it looks when I flip the light on in the morning, or what my age happens to be......this is in fact my reality for the day and I can choose how I'm going to think about it, without any notions of what someone else thinks about me at all.
You might want to ask yourself each morning, no matter how you feel, how would it change my life if I chose to see it in a different way today? If you are in fact younger, fit, and off and running, then wonderful. Be mindful of how fortunate you are to still be those things and pass on the joy and contentment you feel to those around you. But, if you are not, it is perfectly acceptable to see reality in the mirror, notice the aches and pains or limitations, and still be OK inside your head. There are in fact ways to find peace and joy even with a body that simply doesn't work so well anymore, or a face that has aged considerably. It's perfectly fine to believe that ........this is in fact good enough.
