Embrace the Journey: Find Your Honeypot, A Curated Blog

 

Pooh and Piglet

Happiness and feeling good are my goals in life. Having MS or any chronic illness is a complicating factor, but it doesn’t rob me of the potential. Life with MS is a journey and it’s full of obstacles. Any one issue can detour or slow down my progress, for a minute. But, then I remember that I’m in charge of me so, I’m responsible for my happiness.

I’m a fan of Winnie the Pooh of the Hundred Acre Woods. Recently, I read The Tao of Pooh, by Benjamin Hoff. There’s a lot of wisdom to be gleaned from this simple minded bear. He views the world as a happy, fun place to be. When things aren’t going quite right, his honey pot solves his problems. I aspire to be more Pooh- like.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Family makes me happy

Pooh says what really makes him happy is being with Christopher Robin and having Piglet close by while walking and singing in the woods. Of course, having his full honey pot is a given. His happiness is all about being with friends and doing fun things. I think Pooh has it right.  Doing normal, routine things with friends and accomplishing something as well works for me.

I can deal with a set-back like falling and getting hurt. It’s the little, or big irritations that bother me. Unlike Pooh, I let these aggravations rule my feelings and behavior, sometimes. The internet is a good example. I feel like smashing it sometimes. All those updates on devices and programs that are meant to improve the experience, mostly confuse me. Occasionally, I will discover something I can use. I’m only grateful if, and when I figure out how to do something easier and quicker. Then, I might be thrilled. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Walking makes me happy

Walking is my release valve. Pooh gently reminds us to be grateful for little stuff. I practice feeling gratitude a lot. I appreciate friends who let me vent my anger. After a good walk and talk, I always feel better.

Pooh enjoys the process of living. I agree, and I try to trust the process. It’s easy to be positive when there are so many great people encouraging me. Consequently, I enjoy the journey, most of the time.

The Tao of Pooh, says we are continually crafting ourselves like an artist carves a block of wood. What a great idea! It’s liberating to know that it’s okay for me to be me. I’m a work in progress! I do some things very well. For everything else, I have friends and family. My team,  my “People” keep my body running well and take care of all the other things that cause me stress. Please understand, I practice humility all the time. I rarely have to do stuff I don’t like to do. People want to help me and I’m grateful.

 

 

 

 

Hot Yoga with friends

Having MS is not an excuse for not being happy. It’s hard to accept that I can no longer do some things I use to do gracefully. There are physical, mental and emotional things that just cause me too much stress to do. I use to be that person who could pick up the slack and do wonderful things, but not anymore. Some things don’t fit into my happiness quotient. My bucket list for happiness is full of ordinary routine day to day activities.

                                                                             My Honey Pot List

• 

  Grandchildren, priceless!
  

• 
  Walking in my neighborhood 
• Eating lunch in the sunny morning room
• Doing hot yoga with friends at the studio 
• Exercising
• Bathing in my soaking tub
• Recording a video for YouTube
  
• Writing a piece for Memoir Group 
• Talking with the family on What’s App
• Cooking a fun meal 
• Planning for my summer patio garden
• Traveling with Donnie

   Join me, define your honey pot.

Embrace the Journey: Speak Up, A Curated Blog

Toastmasters challenges me

I’ve been doing Toastmasters over ten years. It has become my marker for the beginning of my forward progress with MS. Toastmasters challenges the brain, so it’s always an adventure and needed. 

What I like about Toastmasters is the mental stimulation.   Doing a speech for the club, requires logical thinking, organizing ideas and practice. It's also an exercise in memory and articulation. I need all this and more. Since giving my first Ice breaker speech over ten years ago, I have progressed from 1) reading my written speech; to 2) talking from an outline, to 3) speaking with no notes. 

Love public speaking 

Weekly practice is a key for me. The older I get, the slower my brain seems to process information. Also, articulating exactly what I want to say is harder. I think, that with MS,  my brain needs regular training just like muscles.

Speech giving is only one piece of what we do. We also practice thinking when we evaluate another member’s speech and give impromptu responses to prompts. Constructive evaluation is important for the speaker and a valuable skill for the member evaluating. As speakers we get encouragement and praise but more important is help overcoming speaking problems. Joke telling is my nemesis. I continue working on it! 

Extemporaneous speaking is a fun and sometimes frightening portion of every meeting. It's called Table Topics and we are given a prompt to respond to. We practice composing an idea then telling the story efficiently and without filler words like ah, uh, and, you know and others. 

From Toastmasters I gained the confidence and skills to start blogging about my journey with Multiple Sclerosis. I'm still learning the language of electronic communication while blogging. I also have my own You Tube channel, judymanagesms. 

Embrace the Journey: Hard Work Pays Off; a Curated Blog

Tara, a great teacher 

After class, my yoga friend said to me, “Wow, that just goes to show that hard work pays off!”. I was telling her that my neurologist took me off all meds. This didn't happen overnight and it all started with deciding to try Bikram Hot Yoga.

Daughter Liz convinced me that I would be safe in the hot room, so in a weak moment, I chose this wild crazy idea. As I learned more about the practice, I realized it is good medicine.

Exercise for hip flexor 

For twenty five years, I’ve taken MS medicine. Taking nothing is huge! Hot yoga practice added a dimension of sweat and total relaxation. After class, I often feel supercharged. Also, I learned about alternative therapies and ways to improve my diet. 

The yoga room is very hot, but I have never had issues with the heat. The flow and pace are perfect for me. Each posture prepares the body for the next one. After a week of regular attendance, I was feeling better. My body was relaxed and I felt emotionally calm. 

Typical lunch

All I had to do was listen to the teacher give the Bikram dialogue through the 90 minute class.  This discourse tells how to move into each pose, what muscles are used, and what improvements to expect in digestion, breathing, energy, and nervous system. 

After a couple of months of regular practice, I began noticing improvement and some issues just disappeared. I became a believer. The more frequently I went, the better I felt. 

My juices 

Adding cold pressed juices to reduce inflammation to my daily diet was another game changer. Between that and bone broth, I rarely have digestive issues anymore.

 

I believe that diet is the hero in helping me ditch the meds.  I strive to get fifteen servings of vegetables and fruits everyday. This is how I manage food:

• Smoothie for breakfast 
• Glass of juice and bone broth at lunch
• Soup and or salad for dinner 

My motivation - Travel

Three years ago, my neurologist noted a problem with my bloodwork. He cut the dosage of my MS medicine in half. I still felt good, maybe even better. When that didn't change anything about my blood numbers, he said, "Let's take a six month holiday off the meds." I admit to being apprehensive. 

Eight months later, my MRI told the tale. There was no change in the status of my MS. So, this time, he said to remain off medicine, until anything changes! 

Grandchildren make me HAPPY

So, indeed, hard work does pay off! I'm confident that my efforts with exercise, diet and therapy set up these great results. A bonus is that my energy is fantastic and headaches are virtually non-existent.

Will any of these strategies work for you? Maybe try one. Only you know your body. For me, the work is insignificant compared to the benefits. I tweaked my diet and doubled down on exercise. I still have to manage MS, but  my quality of life is great. My motivation is staying off meds, continuing to learn and grandchildren to enjoy. What motivates you?