Exercise. You have to make yourself exercise so you can be stronger and so you will develop stamina.
I know what it's like to want a break, but there are times when we cant leave poor health alone.
Does exercise have to be boring drudgery? I say, no it does not.
Riding a bicycle, playing in the yard with the dog, gardening, yard work, and hiking are a few things you might try.
Sometimes you can combine activities to create even more interest for yourself. You could ride your bike to the beach, then hike a little, or go swimming.
You could walk your kids or grand kids to the park and take pictures.
If you are wheelchair bound, you can do stuff to keep your body and mind active.
Have you ever thought of painting? How about writing poetry. Maybe you could learn a few exercises using items around your home as weights.
You could, for example, use a broom as a bar-bell. With 2 hands lift the broom over head and down. Repeat 10 to 20 times. You could move it side to side, and push it out in front of you parallel to the floor... then bring it back to your chest.
You could use liquid washing powder and 'curl' it. When we say curl, we mean you'll hold your bottle down at your upper leg with your arm strait... and you'll lift it, bending at your elbow, holding your elbow in a fixed location at your side. You'll then lower the bottle back down. You could press it up over head a few times and remember to switch hands and exercise the other arm.
Exercise is good for the mind and body. While walking or riding your bike, you 'll have time to contemplate problems at home. You'll have time to organize your thoughts and you gain the energy to deal with issues at home.
In most cases, there is no downside to exercise. I highly recommend it.
A tough condition like yours and mine has an anatomy, and I’m not talking about ‘the illness’ in itself. I’m talking about all the aspects of a person that an illness touches.
I wrote this letter to a fellow on television a few years back. I feel compelled to include it on this blog to let you know a little about my illness anatomy.
Here’s the letter: I don’t want to die yet. I have a young spirit! There are things I want to do. I’m not one of those old people who refuse to do things because those things are jouvenile. I love laughing, riding my bike, camping, hiking and I have interests.
I was a brick layer/ block layer as my illness raised it’s ugly head, and I remember my last day on the job when I couldn’t see good enough anymore to lay some soldiers across a lentle at a Corky’s BBQ Resteraunt. While driving home that morning, I could have caused an accident as I skidded through an intersection because I couldn’t tell that it’s light was red until I was only a short distance from it. That was also the last time I’ve driven my car on the streets.
There was a while when I placed 2 donation cans in a local convenience store, we didn’t have money for food, or Christmas, and the usual food bank was out of food because it had already given out its inventory because of the holiday.
We’ve had to file bankruptsy and only have about 2 more years to pay on it. I am getting social security disability, and until recently I had a job as a physical therapy tech. I was having to go to the hospital too much, and my supervisor could see I was trying to work through a lot of pain which I was unsuccessfully trying to hide. They eventually replaced me because of this. I loved the job too because in 2002 I had just about completed COTA certified Occupational therapy assistant college and finally had a chance to feel like I was benefiting others by using a lot of what I learned.
