Daily Gratitude: Boy is this true. It takes great practice to stay in the present moment and not go off on a “movie director” career – meaning creating multiple scenarios, no matter how far fetched. I think I might receive the Academy Award for this.

I am learning to stop when this happens and say “stop. The fact is _ and all the rest is your creation, Terrie. Stick with the fact”. My medical mind goes all over the place acting like Dr Oz or something. It really does take effort to stop.

It’s funny how I’m less likely to go off catastrophizing in areas that aren’t medical…or actually, in areas where i have little knowledge. It seems that knowledge is key for a good spiral downward.

Do you go off into ideas and thoughts that are fear based? What phrases or ideas can you use to stop your mind from hurtling out of control? Share them with us please.

Daily Gratitude: This is so helpful to remember at this time of year when absolutely everything can seem (and be) overwhelming.

It does take courage to keep going on or to decide you will go on tomorrow. My 2025 vol state is a perfect example of that although I’m not sure I’d call it courage. I wasn’t going to be picked up when I wanted to quit so I just had to keep going. But did I really have to keep going?

Not really. I could have gotten several people to come pick me up or I could have just walked off the course. But I didn’t.

The courage was buried deep within and it was a “part”. A part that kept the basic fires stoked but not prominent enough that I was conscious of them. But wherever it was hiding, it kept me going.

Sometimes it just takes courage to go to sleep and say “I’ll decide in the morning or when I wake up”. The power of sleep to rejuvenate all your resources can never be overstated.

So when your energy is low this month and you feel like quitting and hiding or running away, try to postpone any major decisions (and sometimes even minor ones) until you’ve had some rest and preferably sleep.

You can go on but you also don’t have to save the world. Know your limits but also know your real “why” in everything you do and have to do.

This is a season to be enjoyed and enlightened, not overwhelmed and buried.

Daily Gratitude: This can make someone feel uncomfortable because it means they are responsible for what’s going on with them and their lives.

But it’s not meant as a condemnation. It’s not blame calling. Hopefully it’s a wake up call. And it should also be a sign of hope.

It means that you can change how you experience your life. Your job is two fold (to be simplistic). Decide how you want to feel. Then do everything you can to feel that way.

Huh?

You can choose to be unhappy about what’s happening right now and feel miserable or you can decide to make it “work for you”. That’s hard to do when you’re in Chronic pain but you can decide exactly how miserable you’re going to be.

Remember the post on the two arrows. One arrow is the actual pain. The second arrow is your response which is the suffering due to that response.

Put this together with the pause (between reaction and response) and you can decide to minimize the suffering.

I love to eat (long story). But I had a procedure last week that has made eating (and drinking) quite painful. There have been times when I’ve “felt” quite miserable. But then I have to do something…say it’s an interview for my podcast. And my mind goes into that and forgets to be miserable. Imagine that. Sure I’m not eating or drinking then but I also feel happier because I’m concentrating on something else. Or if I pick up my laptop and start writing, I’m less miserable because I’m not paying attention to the problem. It’s not something I planned but I’m glad I discovered it. My decision, my choice is to not spend so much time in that problem. It helps. It doesn’t fix the issue. But it helps me to not spiral downward as I used to do.

You can choose your response. You can’t control the circumstances but you can be and are in charge of what you do in those circumstances.