Life's rough, but here's some stuff! July 2016! Share something positive!

Dang, Antonio! Back at it again with another installment of the monthly share and tell post, life's rough, but here's some stuff! Way to go, man!

For those new to the experience, basically, the point of it is for the people of the forum to share something positive that's happened to them over the past month in an attempt to illustrate the fact that, though many of our situations are so often very grim, gray, or painful, that it's not all bad. There is some good left to these lives of ours, if only we're willing to stop, notice, and appreciate it.

I realize that can be a seemingly insurmountable task for some of you - it is for me, most days - I understand. What is life, without health? What are these smiles really worth? What's a laugh amount to? What is a sunset on a summer night? What are these things, and all the rest, life in general, when faced with Lyme? Some would argue nothing, but that's just not the case. There is still living to be done for you, and, though I know that your health weighs heavily on you, I want for you to try and see that, please.

The negative mentalities do not help, however difficult they can be to escape. Likewise, I'll admit, in some ways, the positive ones do not either - optimism isn't curing me of my Lyme, but it's doing a lot more for my spirits than beating myself up, wishing I'd die, etc. Those are negative things, which I don't really care to be spoken upon in this thread, but I feel that I had to say them in order to let you in a little bit on who I was, or rather, who I can still be, at times, to show that I wasn't always one of those people out there, selling hope. I didn't believe in it.

But, it works, for some things, and I want you to use it.

Me, I see the good in life, I enjoy what I can, and push for what I can't. You see, I'm hungry for more, and I won't stop until I'm dead, or my tummy's satisfied. I've come too far to let myself live in the dumps, give up, and not fight for my dreams, health-wise and beyond.

I want each and every one of you to reach a similar conclusion. It hurts, you're hopeless, you don't know which way is up, but don't feed into that, keep going, keep trying to figure things out.

Scrape yourself off the pavement, time and time again, as many times as it takes, and, like I tell myself, keep swinging, keep clawing for the surface. Do the work, be the prize. Limited by things like time, money, and, of course, your level of health, but try anyway. Do it.

Anyway, I took that summary of what this post is about a little too far there, I apologize.

All that said, a warm welcome to you all, faces new and old!

Share something positive that happened to you or someone you close to you that made you smile, warmed your heart, lifted your soul, fueled your drive, or renewed your sense of purpose, anything and everything, to the loss of a certain symptom, changes in your diet that you were worried about before, but have now grown to appreciate, a new experience that you enjoyed, or perhaps an old one that you'd forgotten the thrill or enjoyment of. Maybe you got a new puppy? Maybe someone paid you a compliment? Maybe you went outside one day, and thought to yourself, dang, nature sure is purty, and that made you feel alive?

There's gotta be something. Share something, anything, that's given you a smile this past month of July.

I do hope to return to some contributions, and to deliver mine (I would now, but I am not prepared, and must be going).

Love you guys!

Hey Antonio! My family is eating fresh veggies from the garden and our baby boy is talking, walking and ahead of pace for his age. Which is amazing since we were told he'd be crippled and deaf his whole life. He's a total miracle.

I got to go swimming and nurse my gf bad back..and see my mommy...and play ponies with my daughter

Hello,I like your thinking Antonio!

For me, I find the positive most frequently in being outdoors (yes, there's a certain irony) and in finding humour in daily lyme situations.

I live on the east coast of Canada right beside the Atlantic, on the gulf stream so warmest water north of the Carolinas, and next to the best beach for amazing sandbars at low tide. Earlier this month low tide was in the late afternoon / early evening and twice I was able to get out there, park a lawn chair on an outer sandbar, and read a book for an hour as the tide slowly lapped in around me. Heaven. And, the perreniel garden has also been contributing daily to a lovely rotation of fresh flowers.

For the humour in daily lyme living, that generally comes from my son, who (sadly) has very severe neuro lyme - which is a source of much confusion and a "lovely rotation" of many strange habits. While sometimes in the moment there is a slight bit of horror or frustration on my part -- after the fact it can be amusing as certain moments are SO in some twilight zone.

I love this thread! My daily walks with my dog (despite sometimes being very short due to my aching legs) are always a source of joy, smiles and laughter. Today she met a cat (up close), which she very rarely gets to do, and just stood there awkwardly while it brushed against her. It was so adorable. She didn't know what to do!! :D

My contribution:

http://imgur.com/a/RTZKm

:D.. this is from the summer term that just ended a week or so ago.

I've a very long, hard road ahead of me, any and every way you look at it.

I'm just doing what I have to do to survive. I'd like to focus completely on my health, but I do not feel that is an entirely wise decision. My chances of succeeding, as far as health and school, would be much greater, if I had more time to focus on getting better, I realize this. But, there's also the fact that school takes a lot of time itself.

Grandma won't be around forever, and I would not be able to support myself financially, in terms of the necessities, such as food, shelter, and the like, but also treatment, with my current level of education and/or experience. I'm praying she makes it to 100, but that's not promised. Nothing is, except death and taxes, right?

If things go my way, I'll be able to provide for myself within a couple years, but I'd really like to press on for a bachelor's degree, which is gonna take upwards of 4 - 5 years. That's a long time. Who knows how long it'd take for me to get to a point at which I'll be able to say, OKAY, I'm ready for school, I'm ready for a job requiring more responsibility, I'm ready for X, I'm ready for Y, Z, etc.?

That could be years from now. So, as much as I would like to just.. work this "easy" job, mooch off grandma, paying only for meds, and just trying to better my health, I can't. I've spent about 8 years pretty much doing nothing with my life, falling ill, wasting away, struggling to figure out just what I was ill with, and then, when I did find out, spent a few more years trying to topple it.

I've made some progress, but I've also regressed in some ways, and my future is very uncertain. I don't know if I'm going to get worse, get better, or whatever. Right now, I'd say I'm in a position to get better, but that there are a few things standing in the way, things that I haven't quite nailed down to even begin determining a plan of treatment. I'm hopeful, of course, but I just don't know.

Basically, I'm better, in some ways, worse in others, and not really sure which direction I'm gonna head in throughout the coming months or years.

Failure is a very real possibility, when it comes to Lyme/co and school, taking this route, possibly overextending myself, etc. Though, failure's also a very real possibility, sitting idly by, not looking toward the future. I need the long-term mentality, if I want to increase my chances for survival now as well as 10 years from tomorrow.

So, I'm doing what I have to.

These A's, they're nice, but it's only the beginning. Things are going to (have already) get much more difficult, and.. yeah, I'm crazy for doing this.

But, it's like I told her, I'm not smart, just stubborn, and I work twice as hard as the "normal" kids for the same grade. If I'm gonna fail, it's gonna be doing my absolute best. Nobody's gonna be able to say that I gave up.

------------

My responses:

Girlie - For sure, let's just hope I can keep it up. I'm still jealous of the lakeside property you got goin' on over there. I haven't been swimming in years. I'd wanted to go this summer, but I'm so pale and skinny, and, not that I'm terribly self-conscious or anything, I just didn't want everyone being like.. OMG, what is that? Plus, I've been busy. I at least wanted to get something of a tan from being outside, but couldn't do that either. OH WELL, next summer?

Jingels - YO, you got any of that broccoli on you? I eat the stuff like mad. I was gonna go to the farmers' market to see if they had any, but they are usually pretty expensive with the stuff around here. That's great news about your kid as well. I did not know that about you and your family. So glad when things get proved wrong for the better. He's gonna be a genius, man! :D

multifacetedme - I'm happy about all the stuff, especially the student loans. I can relate. Though, I'm grateful to be able to say that I'm gonna be able to avoid the loans, at least until I transfer to a 4 year college. The government's got my back right now. Least they're good for something. Though, I saw an ad on YouTube about how Trump wants to cut education spending, if he gets in office - not my precious PELL grants, Mr. Trump.

bluelyme - how do you play ponies..? I'm curious. Were you the pony, or was your daughter? LOL, just teasing. Lame jokes.

Denikeef - I'm glad I can do something worthwhile around here. I'll try to keep going for y'all. You keep going too, until you can throw that dang wheelchair off a cliff or something, then.. run a mile or something. Haha. Thanks for mentioning the Bilberry as well - I've had eye issues for some months, but have been focusing on everything else.

LymeMother - you took me right to that beach. Sounds wonderful. I wish we had something like that around here. Best I've been able to manage recently was a sunset over an ocean of corn. It was kind of pretty though, to be honest. Definitely know all about that neuro lyme stuff. I think I'm affected more mentally than anything else. I wish I could think of examples, but I'm laughing at myself a lot lately. I used to get pissed, but now I just.. shake my head, and keep trying to get better. lol

Raincity - you've put in a lot of work, and the improvements are well deserved. Definitely poop on that suicide stuff. I gotta live, right? Can't go yet. Also, your website seems familiar. I think I've happened across some of your social media stuff before. It's all very well presented.

Reicheru - welcome! You're a new face, to me at least! Thanks for coming around! #teamcats btw. Most everyone in my family doesn't like them. I can't wait until I can get a little kitty of my own someday so I can have adorable little moments like those eeeeveryday.

Psilociraptor - what the heck? You're looking for new herbs to use as medicines, or what? Either way, that sounds awesome. I wanna take a class like that. lol

Anyway.. I'd like to have given everyone a more thorough response, but I have some things to do. I did read each and every response, and will continue to do so. I appreciate every contribution. I'm glad some are willing to help keep the positivity alive to.. just keep pushing.

Post Edited (NotQuiteAntonio) : 7/28/2016 2:40:45 PM (GMT-6)

Antonio, thanks for starting this thread! Good things are happening all around us, if we only stop to look...

One thing that keeps me moving and happy is my orchid collection. They are sprinkled throughout the house, put in the best light according to each plant's need.

My favorite is Neofinetia Falcata. They are one of the oldest cultured orchid, going back to the Samurai era of Japan. They are little, cute and don't take up much room. I bought most of them on eBay for very reasonable prices.

Whenever I'm down, all I have to do is go around and cheer my orchids on for a new leaf, root or just admire them, and the world melts away. I always feel physically better after watering and fussing over them.

Something good that happened this month? On eBay I snagged a rare Neofinetia for next to nothing. Nobody else bid on it. Guess they didn't do their research before deciding not to bid on it.

Yes, Antonio~give you sooo much credit for doing the school! And u ARE the best--so stop that denigrading yourself! Know your Gma thinks so, right? :)

So everyone here makes me feel like a little puddle of non-life activity! But no matter the circumstances, I do take time to smell the roses or gaze upon the neofinetias (that I will look up as soon as I finish typing this!).

~Nothing more that I would love, but a good book & a beach tide carassing my tootsies! But alas, I am landlocked. Yet content with my furry dog love & horses (not mine) that surround us. So great to look out & see them "horsin " around (funny-nvr really thought about that expression, but it is so fun how they play!).

Ok, so to the recent good stuff. Went into the post office today & a guy had his dog on the counter wearing his "doggles"--i.e. doggy goggles. The dog was so dern goofy cute I had to take a pic!

The other good thing I noticed tonight, was driving & cranking the music (under a speckled canopy of stars). I was so "one" with the music, reveling in the sounds, singing loudly & car dancing! With sensitive ears & zombie of body of late-I've not that good in a long time to let loose! That was a biggie, really!
Love & happiness to all & thanks for sharing!

Bumperino, my friends.

There's a couple more days to dish out your yummies that you had in the month of July.

I know some more of you have something to share.

Don't make me angreh now! >:(

:D

Yeah, I guess it's been pretty tame for me as well, apart from the school. I wish I could have reaped some of the back to school deals I've been seeing, when I was doing my shopping a couple months ago, especially the laptop, but oh well. I'm happy with the return on my investments.

Do let me know how that mat goes for you - it's one of the ones off of Amazon/eBay, right? I was looking into them at one point, but decided to put the money into a homemade sauna instead. lol

Antonio that is really wonderful news about your grades ...... achieved with health so compromised is a great tribute to your tenacity!

So this July which is nearly coming to its close has seen me have three wonderful family days out in the sunshine, attend two family birthday parties and to work my full quota without having to take time off sick as well as put in some extra work (which helps purchase my herbal meds) and actually quite enjoy it. Memory has seen quite a vast improvement this month.

Great thread and love to all, wishing us all on this journey a return to health.

I've been reading through this thread and thank you once again for creating this, Antonio!

More than anything, I'm thrilled you're in such a great place these days - it feels much better, doesn't it?

Kudos to you for those great grades!!! No doubts you worked your butt off to achieve them.

It's been nice to read all the wonderful stories shared on here. My summer has been a bit of a blur since I've been traveling many hours each weekend to see my mother who is now in a long term care facility.

Mom is the happiest she's been in a long while....and that makes me happy.

Of course, the grandkids add to it ;) And, "speaking" of grandkids, they both got to enjoy a birds-eye view (pun intended) of a robin making a nest in the wisteria right outside one of my windows....care for 4 babies...and teach them to fly. What a wonderful gift from nature.