Control, or Lack Thereof

I've read/heard from several different sources at different times:

Life will keep giving us the same lessons over and over until we learn them.

Dang if they don't have something there. Shall we all chant the Serenity prayer together....?

Hang in there, Lynn, we're rooting for you.

Anhata
www.familynaturally.com
Your Family's General Store, Naturally

I so hear ya Lynn. I have been through the chronic illness wringer myself. I have BPPV (Benign Positional Vertigo), High Blood Pressure, Asthma, Sleep Apnea, Arthritis (knee replacement comining), Chronic Sinus Infections, TMJ Syndrome and I just had a darn root canal that I dont think worked, bad stretch of luck I guess.... And then I think, who the heck called this positional vertigo benign? I am having a bad spell of it and I cant even lay down and sleep without my head spinning. So letting go is the word of the day for me today. Somewhere in my head I feel there should be something I should be doing that would just fix it all, but all I really have control over, is what I have control over, and that is just that. Stinks doesnt it? I guess I was used to having things under control. The mom who does it all, but I have learned a very hard lesson about what I can control lately... So today I will nurture myself with relaxation tapes and try to learn to pamper myself a bit. It is so easy to do for others, and really hard to do for myself. Maybe just maybe this is the lesson I am supposed to be learning at this point in time..who knows...but anyway...letting go is the word for the day today.

sorry you've been feeling so crummy.

that whole control thing seems to be something that most ppl have to struggle with for a lifetime. don't be so hard on yourself!

But now that you've learned this lesson, I bet you'll find it very freeing!

there are health things you have control over, but once you've done everything reasonable (not everything perfectly!) you have to just let go. What you have control over is basic things like diet and exercise and not overdoing things. You also have some control over backing away from things which create anxiety and stress - keep those things to an unavoidable minimum. Without wrapping yourself in cotton wool there are things you can do to see that your health isn't unnecessarily prejudiced, but your approach needs to be balanced and reasonable because life is ultimtely for living.

I think Anhata's reminder of the Serenity Prayer isn't a bad one. Print it out and stick it all over the house, especially next to the computer.

chronic illness isn't just a steep learning curve... there's a steep learning curve at the beginning and lots more over the years with a few more steep ones along the way too. We all have to learn to let go, especially let go of perfection and control and other personality disorders that cripple us far more than any illness ever could.

hang in there Lynn. Acquire some happy Spring flowers and you'll find a smile, I guarantee!

Kerri.

Lately, I've been what you'd call a control freak, about almost everything in our home, my future (planning, planning, planning) and our neighborhood organizations. Finally, I was feeling stressed, and I asked for a personal blessing from my husband who holds the priesthood. Unfortunately, I didn't like what the blessing said, but I did realize the need for it. In the sweetest of tones, I was told that I should take some quiet time to find out what things I really need to control, then relinquish my control over other things, following my heart, rather than just my mind. That's hard for me to do, but I'm determined to work on it. I've always found it sorta silly to do just what my heart says, without thinking it through completely, but I know for this time period I need to.