It may seem as if I’ve been super quiet on the blog and to be honest, I have been. The holidays kept me busier than usual and I didn’t have my usual recuperation time. For the past month or so, I’ve been facing some writer’s block, so I decided to focus on new things for the new year and have been spending time setting goals. Don’t worry, I’m not giving up my blog and I’m not going to stop writing. If you signed up for my newsletters, you’ll also continue to hear from me there.
Now that it’s a new year, I’ve been working hard, identifying my goals and dreams. I’m planning out how I can implement them so that I can be more purposeful about how I’m living out the days I’ve been given.
Significance
Here’s the thing, it’s pretty easy to live day-to-day, in survival mode, without ever really doing anything significant or meaningful. Don’t get me wrong, I completely believe that those everyday things we do as a Mom are totally significant, even when they seem monotonous and insignificant. I can say this with 100% authority because I now have 2 adult children and a 3rd who will be 18 this year. Now I can see how all of those boring, everyday things I did actually mattered in the lives of my kids.
But now, my older kids, who are adults, don’t need me so much. My youngest is 10 and he definitely needs me, a lot, and what I do for him is significant but I have a bit more time on my hands so I’m dreaming of new things I want to do. So often at the end of the year, I look back and focus on all the things I didn’t accomplish and I realize that I never dreamt about what I wanted. In the past, I often felt like we couldn’t make goals or dream because we all had chronic Lyme and how we felt each day was inconsistent.
A Difficult Year
When sickness has been your reality for a long time, you don’t even think about goal setting. Back when I was sick, my goals might have been; get out of bed, try to take a shower, attempt to stay upright and awake until the husband gets home and hopefully get the kids fed something that resembles food.
Last year came like a bull in a china shop. I mean, it just about ran me over without care or regard for how I would fare. I had symptoms return and new symptoms arise. I had injured my rotator cuff which caused tremendous pain and physical limitations. I decided to have my very first physical in years and “yay me”, I ended up with a doctor who was concerned that I had Multiple Sclerosis because she didn’t understand Lyme disease. So, I did what any Lyme fighter would do, I fought! I know, we’re not supposed to call ourselves “fighters” but for some of us, that actually helps.
Fighting Again for Healing
So, I had the necessary tests, saw the specialists that I needed to see, politely educated my doctor about Lyme disease, and I went back to doing some of the things that helped me before. I took herbs, went back on the homeopathy that helped so much and even began exercising, though not consistently. I found out I have 2 copies of the MTHFR gene mutation which helped me understand so many things about my health, including why I respond to certain medications, why I don’t detox well and why my vitamins were making me sick. I began learning about it and following the protocol on MTHFR.net and my energy levels increased, my brain fog decreased and much of my pain actually went away. After failed attempts at physical therapy for my shoulder, and a determination to never have surgery, I was able to get my shoulder back in tip-top shape through Dry Needle therapy. I was in some sort of physical therapy just about every week of last year and I started out feeling like it was such a waste of time. But in the end, I realized what a great experience it actually was. I learned even more about my body and made new contacts with holistic caregivers.
My New Things
By the end of 2017, I launched a business as a Virtual Assistant and decided to use the skills that I have to help small businesses administratively online. I have a list of projects I can’t wait to complete and I want to make sure I’m continually providing accurate information on my blog about tick-borne disease, my heart is really to encourage you and lead you to the one true hope-giver. Spring is coming faster than we know so I have a lot of work to do on the blog to get ready for tick season.
So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12
One of the tools I’m using to plan each day and set goals is the Organized Homeschool Planner by Dr. Melanie Wilson. You can check it out here. [This is an affiliate link] The forms are simple and easy to use, and prompt me with specific questions to help me stay focused, work on doable projects and set reasonable goals. This planner can be edited on your smartphone, tablet or computer and you can print it out. You have the choice to purchase a print version if you prefer. This planner goes along with The Organized Homeschool Life which takes you through the year and gives you weekly and monthly organizational challenges to help you stay focused. You’ll maximize your productivity using these together but you can use them separately.
I feel really great about the new year ahead and the new things I’m planning. I think that even if you’re not in a place where you can set the goals of your dreams, you could still set a few achievable goals that will lead you toward healing. They don’t have to be huge goals but even small goals will give you a purpose. Are you setting goals for the year? I’d love to hear about them.
Hi Tricia, my goal is to get my immune system up. I am getting slammed with multiple illnesses and can’t seem to get out of the doctor/ PT / surgery cycle. I also had the MHTR testing.
Oh boy, I know how that is. I pray you get to the bottom of it and feel better soon.