Life is busy; I needed this message today!

I am hoping to get more consistent time on the computer starting on Thursday, when classes start.  We have been busy figuring out how to get to UAF, how to get classes once we are on campus, getting established with care at the student health clinic, doing incoming student interviews with the VA, Student Support Services, Financial Aid, and Disability Services.  There are also the normal, purchasing textbooks, new student orientation (tomorrow on 1/15/2014) and making sure we have our student IDs.

How do I stay sane in the midst of change? That has become an important question!

In the midst of being this busy, we are also trying to get our bodies into a rhythm, of getting up earlier than we used to do, finding times for naps, (we still sleep through alarms occasionally) adjusting medications to help with the increase in activity level, and the adjustments to living in not only a much colder climate, but also in a desert.

It wasn't until we were talking to the nurse practitioner today, that we realized that in Fairbanks, we live in an arctic desert!

Wow!  An Arctic Desert? Yep!

While we have been keeping hydrated, we realized it is important not to let even a single day go by, without keeping as hydrated as we can.  We need to be drinking as much water as we would, if we were living in a hot desert.


Sometimes, especially during sleepless nights, as I am reflecting on the changes in my body's needs,  and being frustrated.  The changes come on several levels.  A big change is that we don't have a car or truck, (at least for now) and so I am both moving around on public transportation for almost all our shopping and trips to school, and under my own power with my walker accompanying me to most places once I am on campus, or running errands downtown, near our home. 

With all of this new and increased activity, I have no idea how many times I have said, "I hate my body!"  It isn't much farther from that in a stress spiral, and I am having fantasies of reclaiming the body that I had, back before nerve and spinal issues, (or even pre-kids) and just wishing I could get another body altogether.  In praying the last few mornings, I have asked for help in being kinder to myself, and to Scott, as we are going through this transition. I was thinking of that kindness in the realm of emotions and emotional interactions, but as the day has gone on, it has occurred to me, more than once, that physical factors are just as much to blame, as psychological ones, for creating stress.  Emotional and physical exhaustion play off each other, and not in healthy ways, most of the time.

When I watched this video this afternoon, I knew that part of being kinder to myself, is learning to say, "I love you," when I see, or think of, myself.  It always seems easier to apply this kind of thinking to other people, but expressing love for yourself is important, probably almost as important as loving God or the Savior.  I hope that watching this video gives you some insights too!

Just in case you find it as hard as I did, saying, "I love you" that first time, maybe it will help you to think that you are simply echoing the thoughts and feelings of Christ, and our Heavenly Parents.  Allowing my mind's eye to see this as an exercise in seeing myself as Heavenly Mother sees me, got me through the first one, which was the hardest one. I am committed to doing this twice a day for 2 minutes, (the timer on my iPhone pushes me to stay the whole two minutes) and it isn't easy. I think the fact that it is so hard, and I was so uncomfortable, means that it is something that I really need to do!