February 2019 Linkup Party for People with Chronic Illnesses

This is my first link party! Sheryl over at A Chronic Voice hosts this party so chronic illness bloggers can share info and experiences. I've got five short prompts to work with, so let's get right into it:

Adjusting: Life, especially life with chronic illness, is all about adjusting. I'm always trying to find the best ways to do things, to take the least amount of energy and pain. I'm writing about a really practical adjustment. One thing that's been really difficult as time has gone on with my spondylolisthesis is sitting in regular chairs. It's not the sitting so much as it's the standing afterward. That transition is really difficult and painful. Hubby suggested I should try a stool because it would be somewhere between sitting and standing. I bought one online, but it was too high for my short self. He went out to our local store and bought me one that was perfect Goldilocks height. Not too tall, not too short. And it worked like a charm! I can get up and down more easily, and I can sit on the stool and stretch my legs or get some work done. It was a great adjustment.

Hoping: It's an easy thing to say there is always hope. It's not so easy to live that, especially with chronic illness. Some days the pain and exhaustion are just so overwhelming. I can always hope for better, in an abstract sense, but I can also be hopeful in a more concrete sense. I hope that the therapy I'm currently doing will help me regain some strength and control in my legs. I hope that the changes I make daily for small gains will add up to show real improvement.  

Surviving: Surviving is what I do with chronic illness. So many days feel like they will just be too much, but I still manage to get there. Surviving, though, has to be about more than making it through the day. An important question to ask is what do I survive for? What are the things that keep me going? For me, it's being present with my family, enjoying good books and good food, and just appreciating the things around me. Mindfulness has helped me a whole lot to really be in the moment. More about that later.

Befriending: I am by nature a shy person. It's difficult for me to be the first person to reach out. That said, I am a good friend. And the internet has opened up a whole world of possibilities. My chronic conditions have connected me with people from all over the globe. Honestly, my hubby is the really friendly one. He can start a conversation with anyone, and he always talks to cashiers, servers, and retail workers. He figures if he can brighten someone's day a little, why shouldn't he? 

Awakening: The last eleven years have been defined by chronic illness in one way or another for me. I do think it has awakened a part of me that was otherwise ignored. Before I was ill, I was far too busy to quiet myself, to really listen to and be mindful of what was going on inside of me. That mindfulness has really changed my outlook as I've journeyed with chronic illness. Like I said in the "Surviving" section, mindfulness has helped me to really be "in the moment". I started using guided meditation podcasts to help with the pain. When I was at my worst with migraine disease, I couldn't medicate every day, so I had to find an alternative to get through it. The meditation was not some magic bullet, but it did mitigate the pain temporarily, and that was enough.  

Thanks for joining me for this month's Link Party. Be sure to head over to the main post and check out all the other posts!