Just posted about the value of laughter and some other stuff on another thread, but I'll repeat a bit here. My laughter therapy lately is recording stuff off of Comedy Central or the HBO Comedy station and then watching it while eating lunch. I particularly like female comics from the 1980's.

Moderation is the key when coping with more concurrent ailments that a person can remember without a list. Even though I've got so many medical problems that it's a full time job just taking care of them all, I still make time each day to learn something new, to do something that makes me feel useful (even if it's just giving the dog his medication), and to do something I enjoy. Having a "routine" appropriate to my abilities helps keep me going.

I'm always amazed at the strength of others confronting their own mortality. When my mom was dying of cancer, she still managed to find humor in situations others found mortifying, like suddenly being bald. She decided she looked like Yoda and would say things like, "you know, I never realized I had such good looking ears!"

I try very hard to maintain perspective. I know my life could be much less complicated health-wise, but I also know it could be so much worse than it is. Like I said on the other thread, do the best you can with whatever you have to work with.

fanfaire