Do you remember when you were young and spry?
Joonie sweetie...you have a nasty disease that restricts so much in your life but dont ever let the joy of living be taken away from you. Pin is right... seize the day and take it to the max!! Dont matter a jot what your Earth years are, you are already older because of what you have lived with. That also equals wiser and dont let ANYONE tell you otherwise.
So, here is a piece from Gibran and from the book ( The Prophet) which I have considered my ' bible' for more than 40 years. Read it over many times if you are unsure of the words, but trust me, they are the truth.
On Joy and Sorrow
Kahlil GibranYour joy is your sorrow unmasked.
And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.
And how else can it be?
The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.
Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter's oven?
And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives?
When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.
When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.
Some of you say, "Joy is greater than sorrow," and others say, "Nay, sorrow is the greater."
But I say unto you, they are inseparable.
Together they come, and when one sits, alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.
Verily you are suspended like scales between your sorrow and your joy.
Only when you are empty are you at standstill and balanced.
When the treasure-keeper lifts you to weigh his gold and his silver, will your joy or your sorrow rise or fall.xxxxxxxxxx LynJoonie, feeling young and spry needs to be balanced like everything else in our lives. I fail to balance it all and then I suffer. I golfed 3 times this past week (54 holes) and I'm paying today but that's okay. Why beat myself up? I just enjoy the downtime. Read, bead, design, and nap. Sometimes I feel 30, sometimes I feel 90. That's my life. Live in the moment. LindyI just pretend!!!!!Well I wish my body would behave more like it did when I was younger, but mentally I like the place I'm in right now. I remember those younger years being filled with teen angst and drama, and a so much pressure. I would never want to go back to that!
My RA was diagnosed in my late 50s. Up until then --- I swear! -- I was still a spry, if not "spring", chicken. (I love chickens, live ones, not cooked ones. I'm a vegetarian and I've had chickens as house pets, really!) Anywhooo, now in my early 60s and noticably less "springy", people just say, "Yeah, it sucks getting old, doesn't it?" I want to say, "No, NO! It's not old age; it's just this @$%&* RA!" I was fine until 4 years ago and all of a sudden I look and act old.Oh, well, I just say that inside this decrepit body is a thin, young, bouncy "chick" screaming to get out. But I can usually shut the b*tch up with a piece of chocolate......Me too- pre RA I WAS spry. I miss that terribly. My 85 year old MIL gets out of the car faster than I do. And I don't believe for one minute that it's just that I'm another couple years older. It's the RA. It's not even pain that makes me slow- I don't know what it is. I'm like in slow motion.[QUOTE=wanttobeRAfree]It's not even pain that makes me slow- I don't know what it is. I'm like in slow motion.[/QUOTE]Totally agree! The pain's always there --- in the background --- but it's physical and mental fatigue that anger me so!
Copyright ArthritisInsight.com