Do I have one? Nope

Have I ever had one? Nope

You should take advice from people who have experience, they say. I don’t have experience with back-up plans, but I have some with NOT having one and it’s from that perspective I’m writing today…unfortunately.

I am forcing myself into “down” time since I am having injury concerns. I don’t like calling them injuries because nothing specific happened, but they are problems. Both my hip and my heel (same side too ha ha on me) have been bothering me for a couple of weeks. The heel is my biggest concern, though, as it’s not in the location I’ve had plantar fasciitis before and therefore may be another stress fracture – even though it occurred at a weird time. I had already cut down on my walking when it started. Sigh….. So, since I have a very big year coming, I figured I better let them both heel now.

I’m sure most of the people reading this will already be feeling my anxiety – “oh no, what do I do now? I’ll go crazy if I can’t walk.” And yes, that is happening. I don’t have a back-up plan.

However, fortuitously, this has happened during November which is always NANOWRIMO – National Novel Writing Month. And I have participated in this almost every year since 2004. Although not writing a novel, I had planned to get my next book out this month – it’s kind of a sequel to “It’s Not About the Miles”. I use the structure and discipline of the NANOWRIMO program for my writing. Last year I got 70,000 words of “It’s Not About the Miles” done in November and I intend to write this book entirely this month.

So, I have a built-in back-up plan for November. Not sure what to do if I need more time than that.

It has made me realize, though, that at my age (or any age), I need to develop more interests to fill a day for the time when, God forbid, I can’t walk any more. I’ll have to explore that more.

You’d think I would have learned about having a back-up plan when I was younger. I had wanted to be a doctor since I was 4 and that’s all my sights were ever set upon. Well, you can imagine my surprise and total devastation when I didn’t get into medical school on the first TWO attempts. I had to get a job but had no skills, no training, no idea of what to do….So, I just floundered around, and the Universe took care of me, but I should have had a plan. Especially since my “plan” of becoming a neurosurgeon was also derailed at about the same time – when I developed epilepsy. I had no idea of what I wanted to do instead of neurosurgery, so I had no plan.

It’s important to ask ourselves if we have back-up plans for many aspects of our life. And it helps to ask others too because they may need help in the future (or perhaps now) and might be too proud to ask. No one saw the pandemic coming. And no one saw the consequences either – inflation and cost of living skyrocketed. Many folks are in need of help now but don’t feel they can ask for help. Maybe you know what was going on with them and can provide help without them having to ask. Think of all the good you could do! That’s a back-up plan of sorts.

Take some time – we are too darn busy anyway – to figure out your back-up plans. I bet people in Florida know what a back-up plan is with all the hurricanes they endure.

Sigh..back to writing with my foot elevated….have a great day.

As this week comes to a close and my book has been out for 7 days, I am filled with immense gratitude to all of you who have purchased it and to those who have written a review.

You all know that gratitude is a key part of my life and has been for a long time. But there was a time when I didn’t pay attention to gratitude (or much else for that matter – I operated on automatic pilot for so many years).

“So, are those years lost?” you might ask.

No! As long as you have memory, there is an opportunity for what I call “retrospective gratitude”.

Let me give you an example. For the past 10 days or so and especially this week, I have been almost incapacitated by right heel pain. This has kept me from walking for a few days and you all can imagine what that has done to me. Ha ha! Good thing you’re not around me.

However, I read a few weeks ago a great way to divert your worry bones. When you start to think about the things that are wrong with you and symptoms you might be concerned about, try this. Start making a list of all the things that are working right with you. Concentrate on the magnificent machine that works every second of every day even with poor maintenance – do you even change the oil in your engine? Simply making this list is an expression of gratitude. Even list those areas that may be struggling but are still working. Converting the negative energy to this positive practice will help calm down your nervous system!

I also turned my gratitude to the Vol State races I’ve done since 2014 and especially this year’s race (2022). I was overwhelmed with gratitude that my feet didn’t’ give me ANY problems this year and facilitated my covering the 314 miles unsupported. I think I was so filled with joy and appreciation because I am experiencing the pain now. Often it takes contrast for us to be able experience and express the proper amount of gratitude – especially if we have been negligent in times past as I was.

Another couple of examples of retrospective gratitude:

-I am actually glad that my developing epilepsy forced me to switch my career field out of neurosurgery into a non-surgical specialty. I feel I have helped more people in my ultimate career than if I had been a neurosurgeon. See how “bad things” are often the best things that can happen to us.

-My having the horrible nerve pain from the post Shingles nerve condition led me to taking a medication that is metabolized in the kidneys and as a result I had too much in my system. This led to the diagnosis of my underlying kidney disease which if left unknown might not have been discovered until I needed dialysis.

-This same nerve pain led me to discover neural circuit disorders (mind-body syndrome or TMS) as a cause of chronic pain. Because of that I was able to get out of that pain that would have ended my life. Plus, I am now a big advocate for helping others find relief from chronic pain.

I could go on and on but would love you to reflect on your life and see if you have any retrospective gratitude you need to express