Hard lesson I keep re-learning: My very first priority is taking care of this bodymind complex. My very second priority is taking care of my relationships. Studying and writing about this disease and everything that relates to it ... no better than third.
No matter how fascinating a line of inquiry is... no matter how badly I want to make that conference call... no matter how scintillatingly brilliant that blog post that's unrolling in my head will be...
Something else has to come first.
If I haven't had my brain-food shake, or it's time for a massage, or the phone is ringing and it's someone I haven't connected with in awhile, then shake or massage or phone comes first, in that order.
And then, CRPS doing what it does to attention and memory, whatever I had on my mind beforehand is gone. Taking notes, unfortunately, doesn't work -- I've tried it. Notes work for those whose brains maintain networks of ideas, who can trigger a cascade of memories from the brief mnemonics. I'm working to get it back... which brings us back to the first priority.
And, I've found over the years, the second priority is inextricably linked to the first -- directly and indirectly. But I think that's a whole 'nother post, all by itself.
I've been a Type A worker for about 24 years. Relaxing does not come naturally, but I've learned to manage it in reasonable doses. Losing work is bad enough, but losing it before I've even had a crack at doing it is, well, what those with pithier vocabularies call a mindf!ck.
Knowing that I'll probably lose the work, and making the choice to go ahead anyway, takes more discipline than I always have. But -- despite the learning difficulties -- I'm getting better. Even I can learn to keep my priorities in order.
No matter how fascinating a line of inquiry is... no matter how badly I want to make that conference call... no matter how scintillatingly brilliant that blog post that's unrolling in my head will be...
Something else has to come first.
If I haven't had my brain-food shake, or it's time for a massage, or the phone is ringing and it's someone I haven't connected with in awhile, then shake or massage or phone comes first, in that order.
And then, CRPS doing what it does to attention and memory, whatever I had on my mind beforehand is gone. Taking notes, unfortunately, doesn't work -- I've tried it. Notes work for those whose brains maintain networks of ideas, who can trigger a cascade of memories from the brief mnemonics. I'm working to get it back... which brings us back to the first priority.
And, I've found over the years, the second priority is inextricably linked to the first -- directly and indirectly. But I think that's a whole 'nother post, all by itself.
I've been a Type A worker for about 24 years. Relaxing does not come naturally, but I've learned to manage it in reasonable doses. Losing work is bad enough, but losing it before I've even had a crack at doing it is, well, what those with pithier vocabularies call a mindf!ck.
Knowing that I'll probably lose the work, and making the choice to go ahead anyway, takes more discipline than I always have. But -- despite the learning difficulties -- I'm getting better. Even I can learn to keep my priorities in order.
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Beautifully put truth... as I've come to expect!
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