Progress

I’ve decided to share some of the progress I’m making.  I looked back at my post titled Glimpses and I can see I’m much stronger than when I wrote that at the beginning of December.

I’m not fully recovered yet, after some of the activities listed below I was exhausted and had to have a nap or rest.  However, I have managed to sleep well at night after my exertions and wake up the next day feeling back to normal. This is a huge improvement on the time where any little activity could take days to recover from.

Here’s what’s I’ve been up to:

• a 15 km family cycle ride.  I was on my electric bike and did a mixture of assisted pedalling, and using the throttle instead of pedalling.
• A family walk along the river, not sure how far we went, but probably about 30 minutes walking.
• consistently pedalling my electric bike for the school runs.  It has taken longer than I expected, but at last I think I can do this every day.
• Attending a professional meeting and speaking in the questions section at the end.  I used to do this type of thing as part of my job.  To have the mental and physical capacity to attend this meeting for about 90 minutes and put my point of view across was amazing.
• Gardening.  I have been doing a little bit of gardening most days.  This has included moving barrow loads of compost, edging the path, weeding and planting seeds.  It’s fantastic to be out in the fresh air trying to make things grow.
• Laundry – I’m gradually doing more and more of the laundry, but not all of it yet (I prioritise the more fun activities).
• Cooking – my cooking abilities are much improved.  I no longer have to cook everything in the slow cooker. I’m enjoying sourcing new recipes of healthy food.
• Socialise – I can now spend several hours socialising with friends.  Good times!
• Shopping – I can now walk round a small supermarket and do most of the weekly food shop.  I also went shopping and bought a dress for my sister’s wedding without using a mobility scooter.

Each of these activities enables me to feel more like me, lifts my spirits (well perhaps not the laundry) and spurs me on to be able to do even more.

I hope you can see signs of progress in your own situation.  If you are going through a tough time then hang in there and remember it’s temporary.