Transcending Chronic Illness | Arthritis Information

Okay, here is another one for everyone...

http://www.womenfolk.com/transcend/

I love the use of the word 'transcend', a very powerful word to use for anyone with a chronic illness.

I don't know where I stumbled across this one recently but it was very helpful to me.

Sorry, Bodak, I will slow down and learn the link process, lol. Again folks you will have to cut and paste probably.

Hope it's useful to you as it was to me.

Thanks Cordy -

Some incredible suggestions and help there.

Pip

WOW, she has written everything that I've wanted to; I've been lazy. Very neat site. Thanks Cordy. LindyNo problems, I just love sharing stuff I find. This is a great site. We have to read lot's of medical garbage but sometimes the most beneficial stuff is written by 'the people', for 'the people' type thing. Hmm!, this is what I need to do badly.
Unclutter your life.

At the ripe old age of 56 I have things that I never use or haven't used for over ten years.

I have been feeling the urge for a more simplified life over the past six months.
I want space, peace, and a few good friends and family.

When I'm out in the open I dare to start dreaming, but once back in burbs I close up.
Big message in that lot for Stephen.
Stephen, you bring up a great point. I think when we live with a chronic illness we are led to unclutter our lives in both a physical sense and in an emotional/mental/spiritual sense. Living with a disease like this means we are confronted with prioritizing and uncluttering, often due to the overwhelming nature of the illness apart from anything else.

I don't know about anyone else but I now spend my days...good and not so good...just getting through the 'next thing' and then the next. I have to bring it down to that kind of simplicity for myself just to get through the 'brain fog'.

And yes, I too now yearn for a 'simple life'...Neve, friends/family, creativity, peace. Not much more, honestly.
Thanks for sharing, Cordy. I, too, feel the need to unclutter. I just need to wait for the good days so I can do it .

But I think the very nature of chronic illness leads me to seek space where it is easier to get around. In the real world as well as inside my mind. I also enjoy being with my family, having the kids and grandkids around to share with each other.

eddited to say: sorry about all the white space! Don't know what happened.

Nini2008-04-22 19:16:29Hi Bodak and Cordy; sometimes you don't think it's possible to unclutter your life, but I know you can. I did it. It wasn't easy ego wise. Uncluttering means letting go of stuff that you feel defines who you are.

Uncluttering starts with straightening your desk, cleaning out your closet, moves on to all the closets, drawers, cupboards, and storage. We downsized our home. We didn't need the big house. We just needed a small place, less yard, all together less work. Then we realized without all of the monthly bills we could retire before age 60. In the midst of a 3 year flare, recovery from a pulmonary embolism and assorted other health issues we sold the smaller house, bought an RV, moved into it until I had fully recovered. For the first time in years I had peace of mind and my art became primary.

Once I was well into recovery we started to travel and spent the first 5 months of our retirement in Mexico. Uncluttering the stuff led to uncluttering the mind. I'm truly at peace with my body and my mind. It takes a long time to unclutter, it's not an immediate process. It's also trial and error. You don't have to go as far as I did, but I just wanted you to know it's possible. Lindy

Lin I am glad that you mention your circumstance as I have really been feeling the urge to do as you have.
We are going to a RV show this coming weekend to have a look.

I want a small simple living, travel, some good friends, my camera and computer. The computer is connect to the camera.

Ever since I was a young lad, it has always been the uncharted pathway that I have followed.
A path is a way to discover what lies around the corner. It is this sense of discovery and new places that have always been a very strong motivator in my life.
My mother always said, feed him in the morning, and he will be gone for the day, only worry if it's dark and have not returned.
I always made it back by dark, I was bloody hungry if I couldn't knock off an apple or something from someones tree.

Even now when I have made the effort to pack the gear and hit the road, I change from a worry wort to that little boy.

I am just so much more contented when out discovery (usually with the camera these days).
When I was a boy it was with a sling shot. (illegal now days)

Life for me is just way to stressful and to this day I STILL HAVE MY MOTHERS WORDS IN MY EAR, "When are you going to grow up son, you have responsibilities now.

Stephen is happy when moving so why should I not be in a place where I am happy.

i so could identify. thank you for this great site. and boy do i need to unclutter! just taking one day at a time. i have friends who are always in a hurry running from one event to the next and i realize how blessed i am that the Lord has me moving slow and thinking about what is really important in this short life. and enjoying just being home and just loving my dog and not needing all the gadgets and busy work. sometimes a disease can be a blessing.I meant to add that in uncluttering your life, your mind becomes silent. There's no chaos, you can sit in silence. Periods of silence are my favorite times. Lindy LinB2008-04-22 20:53:17Thanks for the wonderful website. It's just what I needed right now. I was in the middle of a pity party - feeling really down about this disease. I need to be reminded sometimes to look at my life and my disease in a different way. Thanks for helping me do that. me too lindy. i know exactly what you mean. what peace. have a good night. Wow, well this opened some interesting conversations.

Winddancer, I am so glad that this info helped you in a moment of need. That is exactly my hope in sharing things like this. I am an info junkie so I just can't help collecting stuff.

Lindy, thank you for sharing more of your story. I knew you had done something like that but hadn't known the whole process.

I too, feel similar. For me it is different though, not being at retirement age and being a solo parent of a young daughter, I need to maintain some stability in our lives for Neve's sake. What I am trying to work out is how I can do 'my version' of what you and Stephen are both talking about? I have often since being dxed three years ago felt like I wanted to run off with Neve to a convent. Crazy, I know but you get the picture. I can't quite do that but since I believe simplifying and uncluttering our lives is part of the healing process of this disease, I have been on a continual journey of simplifying and downsizing since this thing began for me. I never was someone participating in the 'rat race' ever but feel more and more need to remove myself from that whole thing.

Silence, I believe is golden. I crave more and more of it in every way possible.

Recently, it is come to my attention that we will have to move in about six months from where we are living. At the moment, we are in a two bedroom small house. Even that is too much for me to cope with and I am questioning do we need this, how could we do this differently yet still get important needs met? I have been considering things like sharing with someone else, living in a cabin in a caravan park nearby...I feel there is an answer and maybe a whole new perspective coming on simplifying our living arrangements. To help with this, today I decided that I will make a list of the essential things that are important i.e. having a yard for Neve to play in is essential. Things like that. I figured if I put the important stuff down so I know what it is then we can try and simplify the rest somehow. Any ideas would be truly welcome?

I think what you and your husband did, Lindy, obviously and definitely helped with your healing. I would love to hear more from you on this subject if you feel you want to share. Your wisdom in this area is evident from you having put into practice what both Stephen and I are searching for.

Cordelia2008-04-23 06:02:28Good Morning Cordy and Stephen and everyone else reading.

We started uncluttering, downsizing, and letting go of ego the first year we were married. Our goal was to retire and it took us thirteen years to achieve the goal.

I started the process by reading about the emotional process of downsizing your life. It starts deep within your limbic brain. There was a deep yearning in both Stan and I to simplify our lives. That yearning was stronger than any yearning for more money or recognition in our work lives. Remember, the ego keeps us achieving and reaching for more, day after day, after day. Stan was a military officer for 30 years and I was a vice president of an insurance company and had my own business.......our egos ruled, but our need to simplify was greater.

The process started with a modest yard sale. I had cleaned out the kitchen cabinets and pantry. I liked the feeling of letting go.

Stan retired from the service after 30 years and we moved to a rural Nevada town. We had sold our home and we bought a small 900 sq. ft. cottage in town. Downsizing was a way of life now. We spent several years remodeling and having yard sales. Prior to the move we had combined both of our households and then moved to a smaller home. Once we had carved out this lifestyle for ourselves and were comfortable we both went back to work.........surprise, our egos were still active. We worked for several years and I had the cosmic 2x4 hit me upside the head in the disguise of rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, a blown disk at L5, S1 and a pulmonary embolism.

Between medical emergencies we sat down and reevaluated our goals and how we were going to achieve them. We sold the house moved into a friend's rental and had an estate sale. Somewhere in there we bought the RV and decided we would move into it when I had recovered. Once we had moved into our little home on wheels we couldn't wait to take off and discover the world. We took the plunge and here we are today getting ready to leave San Diego for Washington state for the summer.

Remember this took thirteen years and many lists later. The first thing you have to define is why do you want to do this. After RA knocked me down I realized that I wanted to unclutter so I could live. We all have options. We may not have identified them but they exist. You have to find them and most likely they won't appear until you start the process of uncluttering. It's an exhilerating process. I'm now living my dream and who could ask for more.

Lindy

My son is an extreme example of "uncluttering". He has suffered from a severe chronic illness since he was 12. When he was 18 he decided that he could no longer cope with the constant motion and noise of an urban lifestyle and moved from California to Missouri seeking a slower, more peaceful pace of life. Last year he moved to the Philippines where he married a local young woman and is now living in a small village on Samar. Pretty extreme...but he is doing much better now and finding new ways to cope with his illness, a pretty dramatic change.

Thanks for the interesting topic, Cordelia