To rest or not to rest? That is the question...

Ready, set, GO!!!! That is how I used to start my day. Everyday. I'd hit the ground running with an idea of the 189,000 things I was going to accomplish that day. I never got them all done. Not even close.

The Western society that we live in rewards hard work and accomplishment. 80-hour-a-week workers are a gem! Unless you're the worker...

So, when I got diagnosed with MS, I knew I was going to have to make some adjustments to my lifestyle, but I had no idea how much I needed to slow down. I needed to slow down regardless of my newly found condition, and I am betting that you could use a little slow down as well. Am I right??? Even God rested...

"In six days I, the Lord, made the earth, the sky, the seas, and everything in them, but on the seventh day I rested" (Exodus 20:11 TEV).

Pretty cool.

Busying yourself doesn't always make you productive. In fact, the busier you have been that day, the more tired you will be that evening. When I am tired, I am not sharp. I close my ears. I close myself off. I cannot give to my family, my husband, and the creatures God has put in my trust. I'm quicker to snap at James and quicker to snatch on a horse, when what I need to do is just let God lead me. But if I have taken no time for myself or Him that day, I am not "leadable".

Each day I schedule down time. I usually require a nap in the afternoon. And what better way to get relaxed than to spend a little time with the Lord? So in my hour, I do a devotional, read my Bible or simple sit and listen to what God has for me that day. Then I sleep a little while. My afternoon after that resting time is typically fantastic!

Know what the crazy part is? It is extremely hard for me to take that hour each day. I would much rather keep working on the current project (you know, project 91,236...) and go, go, go! But it is much better to go willing to rest rather than have my body quit me for the next two days!!!

As I have mentioned in a previous post, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 tells us that our body is a temple. Take care of it so you can be ready and refreshed when God calls you to do his work. Need a nap? Then go take one. It's OK.

Acupuncture is a great option...

It has been a while since I posted about my acupuncture, so as a refresher, I decided to try this avenue to improve my sleeping. I started it about 3 months ago. While being very pleasantly surprised at the sleeping results I gained after about 3 weeks of it (once a week), my hair was blown back by the other things it helped with. I had been having some recurring but recent MS symptoms when I started going to him. Mostly numbness and tingling in my feet and legs, and also in my hands. By the 3rd treatment, those new symptoms had disappeared. They reappeared a couple of weeks later, but after a treatment, they improved dramatically again!

With acupuncture, the doc works on the body as a whole. While his needle placement was working on relaxing me and balancing hormones to improve my sleep, my circulation was revved up a bit. Circulation increases blood flow and blood flow increases nerve response. Very cool.

I am a fan. I would recommend this to anyone. For me, now I get to sleep without taking a sleeping aid. If I get some new symptoms, I'll got back to try to speed up the process of getting back to normal.

I encourage you to try it, but please get a good recommendation! I gotta give a plug to the man I go to, Scott Taylor. Check out his Web site! How did I find this guy? A friend of mine went through the invitro process. She went to him for several treatments around that procedure and it was successful. She is now pregnant with twins! After a success story like that, I felt pretty sure the man knew what he was doing!

Keep an open mind. There is no telling what all you can accomplish. Have a great day!

Is this my MS?

A while back, I had gone shopping and purchased some new dark denim capri pants. They were cute! Being excited to sport my news duds, I wore them out the evening after I got them. For things like that, I don't think they have to be washed before wear.

This was also a time I was in an MS slump. I just hadn't been feeling good and was having a lot of symptoms. And to add insult to injury, my shots weren't going that well either. They had really been hurting me and leaving knots in my thighs.

I got home that night after the outing and got ready to take a shower. Obviously I undressed to find blue upper thighs! I though, "Oh Lord, what next? I feel like doo, my shots are dreadful, and now they are turning me blue with bruises!!!!"

So I got in the shower ready to feel sorry for myself. After a little soap and water, the blue magically disappeared. I put two and two together and realized it was from my newly purchased jeans. Not MS. Not my shots.

This tends to happen to me more often than I like to admit. I blame more on my MS than should be blamed on it. MS does not cause everything that is wrong with me. Those of us with MS need to remember that our bodies are otherwise pretty normal and even though we have one thing challenging us, we are not exempt from other ailments.

This story of a harmless incident is one that gives me a chuckle when I think back on it, but it bring me to a good point. Keep an eye on other things. The human body is amazing and complex. Pay attention to it. Head to toe. There is no telling what it is wanting to say to you!

It's not always where you go, but who you go with

My wonderful husband and I recently went on a trip. I'm from West Texas and I have a love for that country that will always be a part of me. We had been wanting to go for a while, but just hadn't gotten around to actually doing something about it. A good couple friend of ours had some cross-country driving to do because of a new location in the military. They were headed out west before they headed north, and wanted us to go with them.

We jumped at the opportunity to have a reason to go to "God's country". We really like Stoney and Ali. We have been gradually spending more time with them which had made us realize just how likeable they really are. They are good Christian folks that are walking with the Lord. This would be our first trip with them. Now having MS, there is always a little bit of underlying stress with traveling and most especially, not wanting to be the party-pooper when it's only 10 pm and everyone is having a great time, and I need to go to bed.

This is the first time I have been on a trip with someone else who has MS. Ali has MS. She was diagnosed a couple of years before me and has been a mentor for me. Most especially on how to keep a positive attitude and go on living a regular life. She runs and bikes and works out. She is an amazing photographer and her pictures inspire me as well. (check out her Web site) We do a bit of photography with our horse business development company, so it is so fun to talk photography.

It was such a treat to be on the trip with them. No only because of the quality of folks they are, but also because they know how it is. They plan for afternoon stay-out-of-the-heat and rest time. They know that we need to get back at a decent hour. They know what the "droop" is. They know the importance of low-stress. I always worry about how everybody is gonna take my need for down time. Are they going to think I'm sick, or bored, or mad? And not only that, most people just don't really understand. They want to, but just haven't experienced it. Either they forget, or they dote on you and the fact that you have MS. What a relief to have that worry taken away!

So thanks Ali and Stoney! We loved seeing West Texas with you and just hanging out with you. These are a couple of people I would go on a trip with anytime.

Consider these things when you plan your travels. I certainly don't want to discourage your travels with "healthy" people. But this "insider information" makes a great trip even that much better!