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"Quality of life"......a gift that just keeps on giving.
The 2020 Holidays are over. What was your favorite gift? Was one of your gifts what I call a “quality of life” gift? Was it a new special pillow that made you sleep better? Perhaps you were given something that made your life a little easier like new shoes with a softer sole. Or maybe your family gave you a Mayo gift like the Pain course or a Habit workshop?
It’s never too late to think of and thank yourself for your endurance, generosity, and kindness to yourself. And these may be things that you have never mentioned because you didn’t want to be a burden or a nuisance or appear to be selfish.
I went crazy this year and got three of my quality of life gifts. I’ll share them with you and hope you realize how very important they were and are to me.
1. My MFR therapist began to feel that one session a week was not sufficient. So, we set up a six week trial of 2 sessions per week. The difference in tolerance was amazing. I didn’t have to endure increasing discomfort for 7 days….just 3. And so….gift #1. When I let my family know they found a way to help with the additional cost called a “stocking stuffer”.
2. For over a year I have been noticing more and more pain in my hip. Several years ago, I had an injection which was done poorly and so I wasn’t too excited about trying again. This time I had a chat with myself. “Why, Chris, are you going through increasing pain when there is a solution?” So I gathered my strong determination, had the injection, and am just jumping for joy. And my insurance covered it. Great…..another quality of life gift received and appreciated.
3. My 2021 quality of life gift brigade begins tomorrow when I have my preliminary appointment to fix my arthritic thumb. I can no longer open a jar or turn a key in the door lock. Seven years ago I had anchovy surgery on the left thumb. It is perfect. Now, why have I let the other one reach such a painful stage? I really don’t like surgery but this one is relatively doable and I won’t need too much help at home.
So Happy Holidays to me.
And thank you friends and family who shouted encouragement and helped support my wishes for a few things that just needed to get done.
What items would qualify for your quality of life? Let’s all share and help each other develop our 2021 list of can dos and must-dos.
Be happy and content in 2021.
Chris
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@artscaping This has been a very good discussion! It is so interesting to see what everyone is doing for quality-of-life gifts to themselves. For me, I have decided to continue my downsizing of quilting projects that no longer interest me. That meant a large priority box sent to a string of fellow quilters for them to pick their favorites out of. And I listed my in-progress-in-some-degree-projects out, placing them in one spot, to see clearly what to pick. It makes me feel more organized and less anxious. A second quality-of-life gift to me is to commit to a regular writing routine, as I tap in to a deeper side of me and find words and thoughts clamoring to be released. For the last year+ things have been topsy turvy [okay, okay, I just dated myself!] and self-reflection is good for the soul.
Ginger
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8 ReactionsHey there Elizabeth, @ess77 on a good cold afternoon. So sorry, I assumed you had followed me around the world. The incident with the too-tight surgical wrap happened when I lived in Idyllwild, CA at 6,000 ft, above Palm Springs, not New Mexico.
I think you thought I was there right then. And it would have been quite cold in either NM or 6000 ft up the San Jacinto Mountain above Palm Springs.
Just one more item that I think will keep me in the running for the prize. Today, at 3 pm our thermometer is at 11 degrees. Better than 7 degrees this morning. And just so it is not a surprise to you today......I now live in Minnesota on the Mississippi River. We live above the River on what we call Adams Landing. I have attached a current image of our yard. Lots of snow and too cold for critters. I have been teasing a ruby red cardinal this afternoon. He wants peanuts.
May you live with ease.
Chris
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8 ReactionsThank you ginger @gingerw. I enjoyed seeing how folks treated the message as a permission slip to do something for themselves. As a mindfulness student, I know that we all find it most difficult to love and have compassion for ourselves. So everybody wins.
However, my friend.......what are you getting from this sorting project? Does the sorting encourage organization? Does your giving save you from having to discard something of relative value? I think that what might be your favorite gift is writing. Sometimes I have to look at your image after reading a post that you have written. The writing is just so very well done, and unlike some others.....I GET IT.
Be wise, safe and comfy.
Chris
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7 ReactionsSo, lovely, Chris. I need to be near water for my innermost peace. I love the river, and that property is gorgeous. Don't you enjoy the peace you receive there, in the middle of nature.
I hope you're doing better today, the thumb is happier.
Enjoy, stay safe....
Blessings
Elizabeth
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3 Reactions@artscaping I get inspired by sorting, and gifting out. I love the science of color and pattern, and rootling through my fabric and yarn stashes give my imagination free rein to create "Mind's Eye Projects", jotting down possible ideas and combing fabrics into an uncut pile for a design in mind. But, you're very correct. My biggest love/gift, is putting those 26 letters of our alphabet together in sequences that make me shake my head in wonder, later on.
Ginger
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4 ReactionsHello, Ginger. I've missed your interesting, creative perspective. You are delightful....a calming strength. You help me. Thank you.
Blessings on your rising endorphins.
Elizabeth
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4 ReactionsYou know, @gingerw, I understand this need for organization and how that is truly giving yourself a "Quality of Life" gift. I'm actually much the same. I don't do well in chaos, or what in my mind appears as chaos.
That's been a real issue the last several years as my son was very ill and my focus was with him. Before that, for many years before her death, I was my mother's "caregiver". Add the focus on my health now and my organization abilities have and are suffering. That's partly why I'm so thrilled w/this thread. It's helped my focus, gently guiding me to address my needs.
And, as Mayo helps me with my issues, if I can keep on a level ride, reduce the ups and downs, I learn better health management skills - physical, mental, emotional....l'm better able to organize my life. It's a crazy circular living.
Thank you for your help in this personal process. I have a feeling many of us need this to improve our lives.
Blessings. elizabeth
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5 Reactionsok, Chis @artscaping, Sue @sueinmn, fiesty76.......MN, MN, NM????? do I have it now?ess77, elizabeth in florida
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2 ReactionsElizabeth - As I recovered from the MAC infection in my lungs and the accompanying antibiotic regimen, it finally hit me that I am not superwoman and I cannot do it all. Also, that I quite possibly will not live forever. I had already found these wonder friends at Mayo Connect, and started to look more deeply at issues other than my lungs.
That led me on 2 QoL paths last year - getting my home under control and getting my pain managed. It was truly "baby steps" at first - one shelf or drawer a day with the organizing, one new stretch or exercises per session from the therapist. It is still baby steps many days, but so satisfying.
One thing I love to do is read, and as I began applying more mindfulness in other areas, it spilled over there. So this year, I have added mindful variety to my reading. Every other book is a new author, every third a non-fiction...it has really got me thinking and seeing things differently.
Baby steps!
Sue
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5 Reactions@gingerw. @artscaping, Celebrating you and how you both bring so much to our forums with you creative, illustrative ways of "putting those 26 letters..." together. Your gifts of writing benefit us all.
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5 Reactions