March 2023’s Link-Up with “A Chronic Voice”

I’m joining up with Sheryl at “A Chronic Voice” for March 2023’s link-up. This month’s writing prompts are: Dealing, Thinking, Reacting, Experiencing, and Viewing. I always enjoy reading what others have to say with Sheryl’s prompts.

Dealing

Even though all my children are adults, it’s still really hard when one of them is struggling with their health. I know I’ve been overdoing it, but how do you not overdo it when your kiddo needs help? My oldest child was in the hospital last month, and he’s continued to struggle with lingering physical/mental symptoms. We’ve both been frustrated by a health care system that promised that mental health services were all set up for home care and finding out that nothing had been set up. Over a month after discharge, a case worker visited him. Meanwhile we’ve been barely muddling by. Ugh!

On top of this, I’ve been helping my parents get to their lawyer’s office to re-do their will. I don’t like thinking about them no longer being here.

Then yesterday, I had a major misunderstanding with a friend.

I need to take some time to recharge my batteries, but I don’t know how to fit that in with everything else. After thinking about it and talking it out with one of my children, I just need to say “No” to some of the things my parents want me to do later this week. Note to self: prepare for disappointed grumblings.

Thinking

Too. Much. Thinking. My thoughts have been swirling around and keeping me up at night. I wish I could put them in a jar at night so I could fall to sleep easier and not wake up from dreaming about them. The human brain is a marvelous and annoying thing all at the same time.

Here’s some artwork I created for a Nighttime Thought Jar to put all those pesky thoughts in that are keeping us awake:

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Reacting

Sheryl were you clairvoyant? Yesterday, I had a major misunderstanding with a friend. I felt judged because I reacted to the situation differently than she would have. I don’t know about you, but it takes me time to sort through my feelings and figure out why I’m upset. I’m not quick to figure it out in the moment, so I react with paralysis or anger. Anyone else do this?

Now I have to do the hard work of repairing the relationship.

Why do relationships have to be so difficult and fraught with hazards??? Why do things go wrong so quickly? Ugh!

Experiencing

Mainly, I’ve been experiencing major stress. What I want to be experiencing is walking in the park with the sunshine warming my shoulders, and birds singing in my ears. I want to hear gurgling water in the creek, and watch a duck preen itself on a rock sticking up from the water. I don’t want my knees, hips, or back to hurt while doing it.

Here’s a slice of nature for those times we cannot get outside:

Viewing

I recently watched the 2023 Crufts Dog Show on YouTube. I love seeing all of the beautiful dogs, but my favorite parts are Agility and Flyball. It would be fun to see these in person. Agility is an event where the dogs go through a course of jumps, tunnels, and ramps. The dog in each size category who does the course the fastest without any mistakes wins. It’s fascinating to watch.

Flyball is the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. I’ll let this video demonstrate it:

The other topic that comes to mind about viewing, is how we look at the circumstances in our lives. Changing our perspective can be hard to wrap our heads around, but I found something that is helping me:

“The idea of reframing your thoughts starts with accepting that not all your thoughts are true just because you have them. A thought is like a pair of sunglasses. If you look at the world through sunglasses, things look a little different. Reframing your thoughts is like taking off your sunglasses or putting on another pair with a different lens. You’re asking, ‘How can I look at this a different way?’”

Regine Galanti, Ph.D.

Wrap-Up of March 2023’s Link-Up

Thank you, Sheryl, for coming up with another great bunch of prompts and hosting this Link Up. Click here to read what others are writing about these prompts:

March 2023 Writing Prompts for People with Chronic Illness & Disabilities Scroll to the bottom to read other people’s entries.

If you’d like to read past Link Up responses, click here: https://www.upbeatliving.net/category/link-party/

Finally, how would you answer these questions? Hit reply and let me know what you’re thinking. Till next time, Kathy

©2023upbeatliving.net

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