Sometimes that is all it takes and all you can do. Keep things simple and move forward as you can. I have found that the journey of life is not won by big events, but by small daily choices. It is these seemingly small decisions and choices that shape our life and character. I am sometimes amazed at what can be accomplished by staying centered on your goals and making small efforts, on a regular basis. You can and will achieve more than someone making a big push or effort in the moment.
Each day I choose. I choose to get up, move, and do. I am and can be an influence in my family and neighborhood. I can't do everything but I can do something.
You can choose to move forward by making small daily choices.
Many set goals at the beginning of the year and push for a short time to meet them. Then, tired, they burn out. Making change is not about doing it all at once, that is too much physically and emotionally. We are tied to our habits and behaviors, they developed because on some level it worked for us. You cannot just decide to cut away part of yourself. There is a process of letting go. With my surgery I did not go through this process prior to having my tumor removed, but I did emotionally go through the grieving process later.
No one escapes the grieving process. Giving yourself time to recover and regroup can be a necessary part of change, as long as you hold to the truth that you are only regrouping and you will re-engage.
Retreat, Recover, Re-engage
Baby steps forward are doable.
I have begun by making big goals and decisions about what I want my life to be. I know some things will have to happen. I will have to relearn to drive. I will have to go through job retraining. I will have to relearn how to cook, work, and live with noise and stimulus.
I work to break these down. I have big goals and break them down into small mile-stones achievable each month. (Sometimes the timelines need to be adjusted based on progress or lack of progress.) I them break the month down into weeks and finally individual days. Activities with the same level of involvement/intensity are balanced out by smaller and simpler activities. Rest periods are used regularly, helping prevent over work and shutting down.
I keep a yearly calendar. On my desk is a monthly calendar where I track my monthly goals. On my wall is a daily calendar where I write my planned/hoped activities for each day. Included on this are my menu, rehabilitation appointments, and housekeeping needs. (Sound like a lot?)
At this point my individual planned activities are quite simple. For example; today I will work on visual tracking during my walk and physical therapy, I will practice using the iron to make a straight line, and I will work to follow a new 4 step recipe to make dinner. While engaging in these activities I will work to maintain quiet levels of soothing background sounds, increasing my tolerance for auditory stimulus. At any point where I feel increased anxiety, I will rest, reduce noise, and recover. I will then choose to get up and continue where I left off.
Through small steps I will meet my goals. I plan to live my life and engage fully in my family and community. Nothing is stopping me but me, and I can learn to work around that too.
Make goals! Move forward. Even if they are baby steps, keep going in the direction you want to be and you will get there. God bless and keep you.
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