2024 Reflections and mid year updates.
Well, as I have been know to say at the start of a long rant. No not this time. This time I am going to post a few paragraphs of a memoir I am working. Something written for my children, your children. Somethings for me to remember and things you may want to revisit. A few life lessons I. hope to continue to examine and a few you might take a look at too.
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| works in progress...they are further along, will post finished pieces after I exhibit them. Memoir in progress. |
I Remember Saying This. By Valarie Pratt Poitier
Originally written 09/09/2020
Draft Updated 07/03/24
I remember saying this to your mother who was dealing with a different series of health issues than she is now in 2024. Not the same issues or circumstance as me, nor like what you are experiencing, but her own, her own stuff. No matter how limiting you might think what is happening is, it is, and then again, it isn’t. We all need the following reminder. At any given moment our bodies condition shifts. Our needs, gains and losses are all an uncomfortable or very comfortable part of what we experience along the pathways of life. Something in your journey will fail your expectations. You will often, whether you intend to or not, attribute it to someone or something else, a loved one, the boss, a car, your physical or mental health, the weather, it fell, or the infamous, they, didn’t do their part. We will all be challenged by its state, condition or a diagnosis we might receive.
A diagnosis is actually a best guess among other things. During any challenge where in that moment or series of moments where were you? What was or is your part in all of it? Were you there? Awake, paying attention? Especially if it is health related? We often think back and go into a “would’a, should’a, could’a” rant. But the past is just that. “Be Here Now’ wake up now and smell the roses, stop putting off today what you cannot go back and change tomorrow. The only moment you have is this one right now, well that one’s in the past, Now.
My dear ones you are all grown up and it’s time to drag the answers out of the subconscious, you know the ones that circle around and around that you ignore. Stop doing that. That is one of the reasons your health challenges advance so quickly. It was not “all of a sudden” you got sick. Reflect. Somewhere in that head and body of yours you knew something was off. Pay attention to feelings that let you know things are not normal. If you pay attention when you feel great it is more likely you will know when something is awry. Our bodies give us clues, wake up calls, cramps, shooting pains, headaches, dizziness, rashes, restlessness and unusual thirst. It is, what it is. It’s just another path. One we all visit from time to time, on our journey of discovering, how to care for oneself with love. It’s time to respond with courage and not fear to the signs your body sends.
Now begin to take care of yourself differently with intention and like any skill practice makes perfect. Results do not guarantee a perfect body, rather they contribute to a healthy state of mind. Caregivers often suffer more than the person needing the care, only because caregivers put themselves last. Put your health first and more of the overall results for everyone will be positive. Why? Because you are the one everyone is probably depending on to pull off or handle the caretaking.
Our elders always said something like this…You are not ...
Well that's all for now. I'll add more in my next posting.
Blessing abound!
Ms. V
