Me....Enthusiastic? Yup.©

Norman Vincent Peale said, "Throw your heart over the fence and the rest will follow" and he also believed:  "Think excitement, talk excitement, act out excitement and you are bound to become an excited person.  Life will take on a new zest, deeper interest and greater meaning."

HELLO my friends!
As you know, this is a blog about THRIVING!
Thriving, not surviving...with Rheumatoid Arthritis or whatever ails you in life.

Today, I had an epiphany! It has been almost 2 years since my dx of RA.
Through trial and error, and four different meds, I am hopeful that my new medicine will put this bone and tendon eating visitor to sleep for a while.

Me...Enthusiastic?   Yup ~ that is WHO I AM.
Many people say, I used to be...before RA.   I feel, well I know, RA has stolen my joy, enthusiasm and excitement I had for life.    It is a broken and tired road, and many people got off the highway when it was getting rough.   That didn't help losing my joy for life.

However, I am not this visitor ~ RA, and I can't let this disease define me.
Not anymore.  Not this chick.   Sure my family and friends and I have to accept
the changes in my abilities and strength...but my light of enthusiasm is still shining.

I was BORN TENACIOUS, ENTHUSIASTIC, TOUGH and RESILIENT, and many times
have been told I was BUBBLY and the LIFE OF THE PARTY!

I have been so attached to my careers, my education, which took me 11 years to get,
and then my entrepreneurial spirit shined with Life Coaching!  It was hard to begin the acceptance process.  Starting my own business, knowing I needed a career to work with my body, which was breaking faster than I could get my business off the ground.   I did get a volunteer Teen Coaching program started 4 years ago.   That is my passion!   Talk about my light shining!  Those teens rock!

This life change had me feeling that I wasn't as worthwhile a person as I was before.
That's because I couldn't physically do my work, I was feeling like a failure.   Due to the severe change in my personal life, I sure felt like I had to be a boring person now.  I wasn't reliable, and mostly needed friends to come here.

I lost my enthusiasm for life ~ My "Je ne sais quoi".   Or perhaps I was just going through the process and accepting my new life.   Hello, it is a huge life changer.  Huge.
But I am seeing things clearer, and with hope.

So, my friends, what am I ~ what are we going to do about it?
I don't work now...I am officially "disabled".  A Type "A" with RA and a busy brain.

Does that make me any less of a friend than I was before I got sick?  Nope.

My brain works fine (well...), so I can blog, write a book (which I have started) spend time with friends and family, and rest and rejuvinate my body.

My volunteer program is ready for it's 4th year to coach Teen's to set and achieve goals.   Last year I had 100% goal attainment.   Not bad for a "dud".  :)

I just needed to go through this tough process and get over myself.   My family is 

wonderful and we embrace the simple life, for that I am blessed.

Me, enthusiastic again?! You Betcha!   Thank God!

Healing Hugs, 

Alicia

Journey to Acceptance©

Hello my friends...
It's been a little while.
I've been on a journey ~
To accepting my RA.
How about you?

Hmmmm
A journey to acceptance
from where to where?
from here to there
Acceptance ...

Acceptance of
what and who
and when to do
who knows what ...
I've never done it before.
acceptance of RA...
Have you?

Are you willing
to go on this journey
together - to who knows where
with who knows who,
for who knows what
Are you?

I am ...
Knowing you will be with me
tells me it will be ok, fun,
supportive, crazy,
virtually traveling all over the globe!
Why not?   We have nothing to lose!

Let's just take one step
one baby step
at a time
I'll hold your hand...
will you hold mine?
Let's get on this
Journey to Acceptance of our RA
and...getting to the other side!

Healing hugs,
Alicia

Getting better as I go©

My Friends, how are you doing?

Wow is this a roller coaster ride I am on!?

But then again, aren't we all ~

unless, well, the other option is not too good.

Last time I wrote

My New Reality ©

phew ~ that was so hard to get on paper

but I needed to.

Time has passed

I have reached a new milestone

with my medication, my disease ~

10 weeks with the injection.

Being self aware

and always making observations

sometimes it seems like I am on the periphery

of my own life

When your life gives you a situation

out of your control

and you are a person who loves

to be in control

life gets confusing

and difficult

and the process of observing what is

and comparing it to what was

is overwhelming.

Unless. Unless...

I look at this as my opportunity.

WHAT? Oh, there I go.

Unless ~ somehow, this is a blessing.

Perhaps, just maybe, someone, somewhere

couldn't handle this pain.

Perhaps, just maybe, someone, somewhere

couldn't handle this fatigue.

Lord knows I have built my character

with all of my life's challenges.

But, if my inner strength, my ability

to be an optimist in the middle of hell...

If that is a way that someone is saved

by this disease.

I will learn how to handle it.

My family and friends will help.

So, my friends, am I getting better as I go?

Yeah. Better. Wiser. Stronger.

Is my pain gone? No. Fatigue gone? No.

I am just trying to figure out how to play this

hand that life has dealt me.

Healing hugs.

Alicia