Welcome to March!

A Link-Up Party with A Chronic Voice

 

I’m participating in the link-up party with A Chronic Voice, http://www.achronicvoice.com, where we are given monthly writing prompts for a blog post.

It’s a chance to connect with other chronic illness bloggers. I’m excited and honored to have the opportunity to reflect on and write about the prompts Sheryl provides. Here is the link with all the details if you would like to take part yourself.  This month’s prompts are: Incorporating, Breathing, Smiling, Stopping, and Relishing.

 

Incorporating:   This year, I’m incorporating a few things, starting with my blog schedule. In order to reduce (ideally eliminate) feeling overwhelmed, I’m made changes, and cut back, on my blogging schedule. I hope it helps remove some of the increased stress I’ve had over the past year. As a result, I’m also incorporating more practices to work on self-care, such as meditation. 

 

 

Breathing:   Breathing is pretty important, don’t you think? Recently, I’ve been focusing on a particular type of breathing: deep breathing (often as a means of settling my mind and body in the face of anxiety). I’ve utilized a method known as “square breathing” (breathe in for a count of four, hold for a count of four, breathe out for a count of four, and repeat four times). I also have an app on my Fitbit, along with some apps on my phone, that are quite helpful, as well. It’s important to balance your breath, especially when you live with chronic pain and illness, since panicked breathing can add to increased stress, heartrate, and pain.

 

Smiling:   Over the past few years, I’ve worked to collect a stockpile of things that make me smile. The list includes funny images and videos, humorous movies, my husband and turtle, and even Baby Yoda and the minions. ? Another tool I use is a gratitude journal. It’s something I’ve used for years, and it includes many things I’ve encountered over the years that have left me smiling. When you live with chronic pain and illness, it’s not always easy to feel like smiling, so it’s important to have a plan, so to speak. There’s a saying that goes: “Fake it ’til you make it,” and that can apply to smiling. The more you do it, the more you feel like doing it. And, the gratitude journal helps me find legitimate reasons to smile, as it reminds me of the little daily blessings I may forget.

 

 

Stopping:   This is a big area I’ve been trying to work on this year, but it’s still a work in progress. Some of the main things I’m stopping (or working on, at least) are being a people pleaser, my exposure to things that I know increase my stress level, and taking on more than I should. (For me, those are closely related a lot of the time.) My goal, in part, in stopping these activities is to stop (or at least reduce) the increased anxiety I’ve battled over the past year. 

 

Relishing:   I’ve been relishing the additional time I’ve had with my husband, courtesy of the pandemic. I’ve also relished the progress I’ve made in my writing (including venturing out and writing more flash fiction stories!), as well as with my editing projects. 

 

 

So, that’s it for my link-up party blog post. Thanks for sticking with me. I hope you are staying healthy and doing well. Have a blessed day!

If you’d like to check out the other bloggers for this month’s linkup, you can do so over at A Chronic Voice.

 

To see my other Link-Up Party posts, click here.