keeptrying
@keeptrying
@keeptrying
Posts: 31
Joined: Dec 07, 2017
keeptrying
@keeptrying
@keeptrying
Posts: 31
Joined: Dec 07, 2017
@jimhd I think that it can be healthy to have times of solitude. My wife and I live out in the country, and most days don’t see another person. When weather and health permit, I’m outside in the yard and gardens. No one bothers me then. Generally, I feel better about life during those times. My service dog is never far away from me for very long. She always comes to check on me, and sometimes will lie in the grass and watch me.
I think I know myself enough to know that it’s helpful to me to reach out to others. I visit a woman who just celebrated her 104th birthday. I don’t know which of us looks forward to those weekly visits more. She’s a treasure trove of interesting experiences. She loves that I can look up events and locations on my phone.
Lots of people don’t like to be alone. They are happiest in a group of people. Not I.
I say, enjoy your alone time while you can.
Jim
Thank you jimhd. I am learning to embrace solitude. My father loved Thoreau so I am reading his meditations. Your words echo his, I think. I volunteer at a local hospice, just reading and listening. Self pity does not exist there. A butterfly landing on the windowsill is cause for celebration. Makes my losses seem minimal.
Liked by John, Volunteer Mentor
keeptrying
@keeptrying
@keeptrying
Posts: 31
Joined: Dec 07, 2017
@jimhd I think that it can be healthy to have times of solitude. My wife and I live out in the country, and most days don’t see another person. When weather and health permit, I’m outside in the yard and gardens. No one bothers me then. Generally, I feel better about life during those times. My service dog is never far away from me for very long. She always comes to check on me, and sometimes will lie in the grass and watch me.
I think I know myself enough to know that it’s helpful to me to reach out to others. I visit a woman who just celebrated her 104th birthday. I don’t know which of us looks forward to those weekly visits more. She’s a treasure trove of interesting experiences. She loves that I can look up events and locations on my phone.
Lots of people don’t like to be alone. They are happiest in a group of people. Not I.
I say, enjoy your alone time while you can.
Jim
Wonderful words of wisdom, thank you. As we speak my orchids bud is just starting to blossom…You never know!☺
Liked by John, Volunteer Mentor, thankful
Parus
@parus
@parus
Posts: 2237
Joined: Jul 14, 2017
@parus @jimhd I much prefer being alone and so enjoy playing in the dirt. Don’t have much dirt to play in, but make the most of what little I do have. Amazing how much can be packed into a small place with some know-how. Always enjoyed landscape and design. Those days are gone. I miss having room to roam. I also know it is no longer realistic. Still adjusting :(. A Test for sure.
@keeptrying So sorry.
Parus
@parus
@parus
Posts: 2237
Joined: Jul 14, 2017
There are times when nothing works. Succumb and ride it through.
Liked by Teresa, Volunteer Mentor
Jim, Alumni Mentor
@jimhd
@jimhd
Posts: 1256
Joined: Aug 10, 2016
@jimhd I think that it can be healthy to have times of solitude. My wife and I live out in the country, and most days don’t see another person. When weather and health permit, I’m outside in the yard and gardens. No one bothers me then. Generally, I feel better about life during those times. My service dog is never far away from me for very long. She always comes to check on me, and sometimes will lie in the grass and watch me.
I think I know myself enough to know that it’s helpful to me to reach out to others. I visit a woman who just celebrated her 104th birthday. I don’t know which of us looks forward to those weekly visits more. She’s a treasure trove of interesting experiences. She loves that I can look up events and locations on my phone.
Lots of people don’t like to be alone. They are happiest in a group of people. Not I.
I say, enjoy your alone time while you can.
Jim
I’m glad you work with hospice. I was a volunteer visitor for several years with the local hospice, but I had to resign not too long ago because they made new guidelines and I didn’t want to make my service dog a therapy dog. My dog is always with me, and all the patients I visited looked forward to seeing her as much as seeing me. There were a few places my dog didn’t go because of other pets in the home, but otherwise I never had a patient who didn’t want to see both of us. I was sorry to have to give up my job. I enjoy visiting people. It’s good therapy for me, almost as much as for them.
Jim
Liked by John, Volunteer Mentor
superwife
@superwife
@superwife
Posts: 11
Joined: Aug 21, 2016
I'm 87 & have had a very trying 6 mos – husband with broken hip & me with a number of coincident difficulties. And no – it isn't bad to go to where you find peace & comfort. You may want to add a few trusted friends to your mix of books & music & gardening. Wish I knew you – I'm in similar space right now – but not unhappy except when I can't get pain under control. (still working on that) Shalom Superwife.
Liked by Teresa, Volunteer Mentor
keeptrying
@keeptrying
@keeptrying
Posts: 31
Joined: Dec 07, 2017
@gman007 I don’t remember who is credited with saying it before Clint Eastwood, but one has to know their limitations. I believe it is fine to know your comfort zone and if opportunities arise that allow you to enlarge it a bit and you are able to take them, that is perfectly fine. If one attempts to do something or yearn for something that is simply no longer possible, then it may be time to mourn that friend and move on. Before I was diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis, I was at the gym every morning at 5AM for 90 minutes and no longer am able to do that and I miss the workouts, and the friends I had there, but it is simply not going to happen in the same way again. I still try to workout at home when I am able and motivated, but that leaves out the friends part, but it is simply what I am able to do and I accept that. I don’t think that is the same as “giving up”.
I just read this post again today. How grateful I am for this site when I get to it. Your posting in particular was very kind and had a little bit of the "Snap out of it!" moment that is instructive. I have been doing the battle of acceptance vs giving up for too long ( according to friends,lucky) and I take it seriously. I am learning too slowly! The measure of our value is not ten,twenty plus years ago. It is today. Today someone helped me, more importantly I managed to help someone else. Grateful to hear your voice.
Liked by Teresa, Volunteer Mentor, steeldove
keeptrying
@keeptrying
@keeptrying
Posts: 31
Joined: Dec 07, 2017
I will leave this site today . At 59, as I watch my legs and hands disappear, I am retreating to my photography, few friends and meds. I have found that tramadol let's me lift my legs and klonopi n helps them both smoothly on a good day. I know I will be in a wheelchair 65 to 68. This is death . I will find what not I can til then. This site searches for solutions that do not exist. Goodbye Mayo.
@keeptrying
In reply to @johnbishop
One of the many reasons this group is helpful is that sometimes you can’t help but smile!☺ Love your critter photo. I too tinker around with photography. There is something calming about doing a ‘still life’ of something you find in nature. If I can’t hike in the woods anymore, I can surely bring the woods to me. Photography also brings the element of surprise that you encounter in a hike. Nature is good medicine for the soul (I think.)
Liked by John, Volunteer Mentor, thankful