Getting out of the mind

my windowsill on a sunny morning

It's time to focus on what activities I do that make me totally forget where I am and who I am. Activities that make me loose all track of time. Activities that make me feel totally healthy and amazing. That make me forget I was ever sick.  I'm going to list and grade my activities below on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the best.

- Walking. I know that not everyone with Chronic Fatigue or Adrenal Fatigue is able to do this, and I myself did go through a year and a half that I wasn't able to go out and walk at all. So I am overjoyed that I can go out and walk again. Not every walk turns out well, and a few times I get leaden feet and have to turn around.  Sometimes I get very tired 20 minutes after sitting down from returning from a walk. But I usually do feel great during a walk and I usually continue to feel fine the rest of the day afterwards. Walks more often than not energize me and make the rest of the day better. Usually about 10 minutes into the walk, I am overcome with a sense of deep well being, and a zest for life. It is identical to the high I used to feel when I was healthy and would walk at a local track or rail trail. It amazes me every time when I walk that I am able to duplicate spot on the feelings of vibrant health that I enjoyed pre-AF. Grade of 10!

-Visiting with people and laughing with them. I get almost as much rejuvination from being social as I do from walking. Again, this isn't a fool proof method because if I'm already not feeling great, being around people just pulls me down even further. But if I am on a level where I feel mediocre (just at the line between feeling bad and good), then this can pull me upwards. Maybe laughing is good medicine because it helps me take in air and breath more deeply, more relaxed. Being around people and conversations is definitely a distraction, and most things that distract me from the busyness of my mind is good. Grade of 8.

-Watching movies. They have to be funny, though. The more light hearted, the better. Grade of 3.

-Drawing. This isn't always a good choice though because if my mind is busy, it doesn't serve me well. Grade of 3.

-Gardening. The same is true for gardening. I would enjoy it more if I could turn my mind off more easily, though. Grade of 3. Also, if I moved around a lot more, I would give it a higher grade.

-Bio-Tuning. So far this is my tried and true method of meditation. All I do is turn it on and clip it to my ears, and it's automatic. My mind eventually turns off. Grade of 8.

-Helping someone else by being of service to them and feeling useful. I want to explore this more. Anything from unloading the dishwasher, making something Karl really likes for dinner, babysitting my niece or nephew for my sister. Grade of 7.

-Allowing myself to recieve things from other people. Like my mom gave me a bike the other day, and it really gave me a lot of joy. I know she feels bad about some things and wants to make it up to me, and this is one way she is trying to go about it. Getting a back rub from Karl. It's always been easy for me to give, and difficult to recieve. But I'm coming to realize that openly recieving is like giving a gift to the giver. You are giving acceptance. I didn't know that I could get so much joy out of letting myself recieve good things from other people. I think I get more joy out of recieving than actually giving? When Karl gives me a back scratch, I say, "I recieve. I recieve." Otherwise, I would cut him off and say, "Ok, your turn." I'm practicing allowing good to come to me. I used to think I wasn't worth it, and that translated to me not allowing good in. I'm working on this, and so far it's pretty fun. Grade of 7 or 8.