Thursday 18 August 2016

Taking It Easy

It's 8:15 PM; a late blog. I didn't mean to do it this way today. It's just how it worked out. In fact I was still in bed at about 3:00 PM, laying there not knowing what to do with myself. It's happening more and more to me these days, that laying in bed is easier than getting up, that getting up must be driven upon me by outside circumstances. Today it was encouragement from a friend and the offer of a Magnum Ice Cream bar if I got up and got out.

I did both, in a hurry. Ice cream is a tremendous lure for me. I rarely turn it down. Getting dressed was done with its usual trials and tribulations. Getting out meant getting into my Power WheelChair, a transfer which I can still do manually, or using the sling in my living room. Today I did a manual transfer; I had a bit more energy. Tonight, when all is said and done, I will more likely use the sling. I won't have a lot of energy left by then.

Getting outside was good for me. I need to get out of my apartment periodically, not just in my truck but out in my PWC, out to feel the sun and wind, to hear the noise of people and traffic, so smell the grass and trees. I need to get out so I don't feel so much a shut-in. It would be very easy for me to withdraw completely indoors, to sit behind my windowpane, watching the world go by, doing nothing, slowly subsiding into emptiness. I don't want that. I want to get outside. So I did that today.

My life is actually very simple these days. I have few appointments, few social engagements. Mostly I sleep a lot, watch Netflix a lot, read a lot. Mostly I am inactive. There are some things I can get to, some things I can do, but in the end a lot of activity just wears me out. So I try to pace myself, try to manage the energy that I use. While there was certainly activity today, most of it was low impact thanks to the PWC. I just have to take it easy. That's my life these days.

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