I'M BACK!
"Stress will kill you."
(ER Doctor, March 21,2006)
I'm back. Back home, back on my feet, back smiling--not 100% as my stamina is still plodding along to get back to normal. My husband tells others that I usually have one speed--go, go, go, drop. Not these past two weeks.
For years I have had easily-controlled high blood pressure. I don't have high cholesterol (my "good" part is 90%). Yes, I could lose ten (or more) pounds but I have felt great. My one operation, for breast cancer, was over eight years ago and I have been cancer free since. So what a surprise to wind up in the ER with many of the symptoms of a mini-stroke (TIA). Who me?
Yes, me. The lady who can't say "no" when people need a volunteer to take on just one more task. Having been brought up with an "old world" (i.e., Depression era parents) work ethic, I went from very responsible employment to volunteering with the same dedication--never miss a day, seldom take a vacation, give 110%, freak myself out when I am running from one task to the other, day after day. In the past months,I no longer found pleasure in the one thing I have loved all my life--writing. I didn't show my stress verbally--it was all internally. A stroke waiting to happen.
I was lucky. Stress did not kill me, or leave any lasting effects. No trace of that little blood clot scooting through my brain could be found. The BP is not quite stable yet--fluctuaring from a little too high from my normal to way too low for my normal but it is much better than a week ago. As I said, the stamina hasn't returned full force yet. But I'm winning the battle in spite of it all.
Except for my writing classes (which I love and never stress over), there is no longer volunteering in my life. After 20 years of giving to others, I am allowing someone else to have their turn. I am beginning a new project while completing a novel and a short story collection. These only have deadlines I set for myself. My inspirational newsletter is a joy and I've already started writing articles for the May-June issue.
Writing will save me--with God's calming hand on my shoulder--and His other hand over my mouth until I prove I've learned the meaning of the word "no" when asked to take on any new task.
Tip: Learn to write tighter. Use contractions in you writing as you do in speaking. Look for those excess words cluttering the pages. For example, set your computer to search for "that, of, just" and eliminate them.
Prompt: Write something merely for the joy of it. Don't worry about a market, or what readers will think. Write for yourself.
(ER Doctor, March 21,2006)
I'm back. Back home, back on my feet, back smiling--not 100% as my stamina is still plodding along to get back to normal. My husband tells others that I usually have one speed--go, go, go, drop. Not these past two weeks.
For years I have had easily-controlled high blood pressure. I don't have high cholesterol (my "good" part is 90%). Yes, I could lose ten (or more) pounds but I have felt great. My one operation, for breast cancer, was over eight years ago and I have been cancer free since. So what a surprise to wind up in the ER with many of the symptoms of a mini-stroke (TIA). Who me?
Yes, me. The lady who can't say "no" when people need a volunteer to take on just one more task. Having been brought up with an "old world" (i.e., Depression era parents) work ethic, I went from very responsible employment to volunteering with the same dedication--never miss a day, seldom take a vacation, give 110%, freak myself out when I am running from one task to the other, day after day. In the past months,I no longer found pleasure in the one thing I have loved all my life--writing. I didn't show my stress verbally--it was all internally. A stroke waiting to happen.
I was lucky. Stress did not kill me, or leave any lasting effects. No trace of that little blood clot scooting through my brain could be found. The BP is not quite stable yet--fluctuaring from a little too high from my normal to way too low for my normal but it is much better than a week ago. As I said, the stamina hasn't returned full force yet. But I'm winning the battle in spite of it all.
Except for my writing classes (which I love and never stress over), there is no longer volunteering in my life. After 20 years of giving to others, I am allowing someone else to have their turn. I am beginning a new project while completing a novel and a short story collection. These only have deadlines I set for myself. My inspirational newsletter is a joy and I've already started writing articles for the May-June issue.
Writing will save me--with God's calming hand on my shoulder--and His other hand over my mouth until I prove I've learned the meaning of the word "no" when asked to take on any new task.
Tip: Learn to write tighter. Use contractions in you writing as you do in speaking. Look for those excess words cluttering the pages. For example, set your computer to search for "that, of, just" and eliminate them.
Prompt: Write something merely for the joy of it. Don't worry about a market, or what readers will think. Write for yourself.
posted by Barb | 10:41 PM
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