I was making a batch of chili earlier today, and before I could hardly get it finished, I had all the strength drained out of me, started feeling dizzy, had to go lay down while it simmered, even though I had sat upon my trusty kitchen stool, to do as much as possible. This stool belonged to my great, great grandma. I have to smile seeing those words, and imagining all those generations of grandmas working away in the kitchen sitting on that same stool.

WOW sharing with you all is helping me see the good in my life, seeing how I may not be as strong as I used to be. Helping me see the importance of accepting the reality of RSD in my left foot. I am seeing, or is it finally accepting, the need to do more and more in steps, do a little, rest a little, do a little, and be grateful for what I am able to do, some days a lot, some days very little, then I will be in bed catching up on my reading, hahaha, the more I read the more I want to read, another benefit of RSD. Reading is an awesome way to focus away from the pain, my mind needs all the help it can get.

My glass is half full today, gratitude for the good in my life, adds lots of bubbles to that glass, sharing it with you is a way to let it bubble over on you. Gratitude is contagious. Pass it on if you like.
:-)
gratefully
zinnia

Hi zinnia,
Kuddos to you!
That's the way it was explained to me. To except that "It is what it is" and find a way to deal with it.
I do puzzles myself. I am also fortunate to have been raised in Native American ways and seek the spiritual side of life.
You sound like you've been able to find solace in your fight with this monster that wrecks our lives.
Learning to except and cope is important in the battle...
Be well...

Zinnia,

What a lovely and uplifting post! I especially found the story about your kitchen stool delightful. It offers you support in more ways than one.

There are actually some studies on gratitude and it's healing effects. I too have noticed my mood improves and life seems more beautiful when I pay attention to the many blessings, no matter how small.

Thanks for sharing You,

Thanks for your post. I must admit that some days, I look at the glass as half empty but many days I see it as half full.

When I am alone and suffering, the glass becomes half empty but all I need to do is read some posts on NT and the glass quickly becomes half full and bursting with bubbles.

I am made aware of all the things I do NOT have to deal with that so many here do. I start to think about all the medical issues I do NOT have and am so thankful that I am not afflicted with in my own life. When I think only of my long laundry list of health issues, I can become a "woe is me" for a moment but no matter the length of my list, it is very short in comparison to what it could be and is for others.

I start to think about ALL the conditions I don't have and the realization of my MANY blessings begin to ring loud and clear.

There will always be someone with better health and many with worse so I find it best to dwell NOT solely upon my own but on the spectrum and how I fall so much closer to the better side than the LONG list of ailments on the other side.

I am truly blessed,.... I just forget that some times. It is so easy to compare one's former healthy self to their current state that we then see the glass half empty. We miss the former self. It takes time to adjust and cope with the changes but the more we can do that, the better we feel.

Thanks again for your post and the reminder that a lot is perspective.

Thank you for putting a smile on my face as I woke up in pain, came here and saw your post !

I love that you were blessed with the stool in your kitchen. I have a cast iron skillet that I received from my MIL prior to her passing that I feel the same about. But I'm pretty sure the only thing cooked in my skillet has been cornbread ! Can't use a cast iron cornbread skillet for anything else or it's ruined for cornbread !

As for pacing yourself......if I can do a little, go to bed for an hour and do a little more and so on I feel I've had a glass half full day.

Thank you again for your post.

Debi from Georgia

thank you zinnia for your beautiful post. it really raised my spirits too. i am having a high pain day today and your post reminded me of how blessed i am to have people in my life who care, like all of you here on NT. you help remind me that even though things aren't the way i want them to be, i can still appreciate what i have right now. thanks again for your positive message. hugs to all.

Today I woke up in one of those moods that I just could not find the reason to even get out of bed. I finally decided to move myself to the sofa sometime early this afternoon with an ongoing "woe is me" feeling.

This past year, especially these past couple of weeks, has been a nightmare in so many ways that I just do not know what to do anymore. It seems that my half empty glass has a hole in the bottom. There is so much going on in my life and not too much of it is good. I try to do even the easiest of things and it puts me down in pain for several days. I try do do things that I can do sitting but find that the numerous medications that I am on keep me from doing those easily as well. I have tried to read a book only to find that after reading a paragraph 3 times without comprehending it, I get frustrated and give up.

Then there are the people here on NT giving posts like this. It gives me just a glimmer of a smile on days like today, knowing that there are so many others out there that are struggling day to day just as I am, some even worse.

Thank you zinnia for giving me that glimmer of a smile today. I really needed it.

Thanks for the wonderful post zinnia!

I think the glass half full/half empty trope is misleading. I know I know - it's meant to be a metaphor on the importance of perspective... and it's a good one too. But the fundamental fact is that the glass is ALWAYS 100% full, 100% of the time. In this particular example, half of the cup is filled with LIQUID, and the remaining half is filled with AIR. (Air isn't nothing - it's just a less dense version of matter.)

What matters in your cup?

'5 Simple Ways to Improve Your Life Through Gratitude'

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread231072.html


Zinnia, you are so ahead of the curve.

Another practice that I like is to create a gratitude jar or box. On slips of paper write 3 things (or 5 or whatever) that you are grateful for that day. Keep it in a spot you see easily (mine is on the bedside table.) On bad days it's great to empty the container and remind yourself of all of all the positives. It's also great to do on New Year's or birthdays to remind yourself of all you have to be grateful for in the past year. This year sometimes it was hard to come up with things and some days I really had to work at it. It may have been a very small thing (a piece of good chocolate, hearing my kids laugh in the other room, etc.), but there is always something. Just a suggestion for those that don't care for journaling.~mac PS this works great w/ kids