Vlog: All You Can Do Is Your Life

You can:

• Wake up feeling every ache and pain but determined to help others.
• Put others first.
• Ignore the voice inside; your gut that says you've done enough. You are enough.
• Be angry, sad, lonely, tired, frustrated, hurt, insulted, fearful, ashamed due to your health issues and the reactions of others toward those issues.
• Try to be everything to everyone.
• Sit alone, staring at the wall feeling sorry for yourself.
• Stay in an unhealthy relationship because you think no one else will want you.

OR

You can:

• Wake up and decide to tackle the day with determination, enthusiasm, grace, patience, positivity, getting real, productivity, doing, being, putting one foot in front of the other.
• Try, fail, take the breaks you need, try again, maybe succeed next time, thrive, live life to the fullest.
• Help yourself so you can help others.
• Live a life you can smile and be happy about.

Which option sounds the healthiest to you?

Which life do you want to lead?

Which life have you led up to now?

What changes do you need to make to live your best life?  

You can, you know . . . live your best life.  The best that you know is inside you.

Whatever that is.  You find that within you.

Are you ready?  Get started.

• Little by little
• Bit by bit
• Step by step

What does it mean to you to live your life?

How can you make changes to live a fulfilling life?

Have you already made them?  How did it go?

Email me at amy@acnlifecoach.com or comment below.  

I may or may not have a post next week.  I'm taking next week off and plan to unplug as much as possible.  So, let's just plan on meeting again back here in a couple weeks.  

Take care!  Tomorrow is June already!  Wow!  I hope you have so fun summer plans.  

What Happens When You Try and Fail Repeatedly?

Happy Wednesday, all!  I hope you're having a great week.  Today I'm talking about what happens when you try and fail, over and over again.

Try and fail

Say, you try to get a job.  You send out resumes but you don't hear anything back.  Or you do get an interview and you think it went great, but you don't get the job.  Over and over again this happens.

Or maybe you don't have any energy and you try all sorts of things to boost it.  You may try exercise, tips and tricks you found on the Internet or heard about from friends or family.  And, you may try some of these things and find out you're allergic to that specific vitamin, or food, or herb.  Whatever you tried. You had no idea you were even allergic to it, but you are. 

Maybe you want to lose weight.  You go to the gym and find out that you can't use most of the equipment that you were hoping to, either because it's not adjustable or adaptable, or the gym is too busy at the time you can get there, so the machines are occupied.

It could be that you try to think of things that will improve your friendship or marriage and you're met with resistance, or what you do try just doesn't work.

It doesn't have to break you

When you try and fail, over and over, it can bring you down, frustrate you.  But you can choose to learn from each experience and grow from it.  It doesn't have to break you.

Try something else.

Exercise

Go to a different gym, work out at home, use dumbbells, exercise bands, or your own body weight instead of machines.

Job

Get a temp job, look online for work at home opportunities, ask a neighbor if you could do odd jobs them, or start your own business online or off.

Energy

Check with your doctor to see if something is up.  You can also keep trying those tips and tricks from the Internet and your friends.  Maybe you'd like to try meditation.  And, take a look inside yourself to see what you need.  Go with your gut.  

Relationships

Talk things out with friends, family, your spouse, a coworker.  If that doesn't work, you may consider seeking guidance from a counselor or coach.  

Time management

Look at how you manage your time.  Can some things be shortened or cut out so you can spend more time on the things and people who mean the most to you?


Have you tried and failed and just don't know what else to do?  Or have you tried and failed repeatedly only to try one more time and have things work out?  Let me know.  I'd love to hear from you.  

Take care, and I'll see you back here next Wednesday.

Vlog: Chronic Health Issues and the Frustrations That Come With Them

Hi!  I'm back.  Jim and I spent the weekend with friends up in Park City, UT.  That's what this vlog post is about actually.  Mainly the knee problem that made me almost cancel the trip.  

Have you had chronic health issues that get in the way of life?  Cause you to have to cancel plans?  Put a major cramp in your style?  I'd like to hear about it.  Please share in the comments below, or email me at amy@acnlifecoach.com.  Thanks!  

On Friday, I'll feature a guest blogger, Lauren (Lo) Najar, cancer survivor, talking about how laughter helps her deal with health issues.  Please check it out.  Thanks!

I'm Tired: Dealing With Health Issues

Walking through the sprinklers in the park.

This has been quite a week.  It started out amazingly.  I got up early on Monday morning and got a ton of stuff done--personal stuff and business stuff.  I had every intention of keeping this productive, motivatiing trend going all week.  

Well...

Monday night, I started bleeding.  I won't go into the gory details, but it was more than a teensy bit of blood.  And it wouldn't stop.  I am usually pretty calm when it comes to medical stuff; health-related stuff.  I've lived in the medical world my entire life.  Most things don't freak me out.

Except blood.  And especially, bleeding that doesn't stop.

Even Jim was like, um, you need to go to the InstaCare, and he is usually the "wait and see what happens" type.  

I get to the InstaCare at the hospital and explain what's happening.  A doctor is consulted.  It's a 3-hour wait, and they aren't even sure they can handle my situation.  So, we decide that I should go to the ER.  I'm asked if I would like someone to wheel me over there in a wheelchair.

Um, no thank you.  I can walk.

Okay, we get to the ER.  They've been briefed by InstaCare already and are waiting for me.  I'm led to a room where they take my vitals, ask what's up, and review my meds.  Then, I'm told to wait in the waiting room.  Although the wait isn't extraordinarily long, it's long enough for the stupid bleeding to stop.

Sure, yes, that's a good thing.  But it means that I basically went there for nothing.  If I had waited at home for 15 minutes, it would have probably stopped.  But when it comes to blood, I act first and ask questions later.

I left the ER after about two hours with instructions on what to do if the bleeding started up again--wait 15 minutes, if the bleeding hasn't stopped, contact the doctor or return to the ER-- and a referral to a surgeon to look further into the matter.  

I was a nervous freakin' wreck!  We didn't get home until close to midnight.  I was exhausted but didn't sleep well because I was wondering if I would wake up in a pool of blood.  Luckily, Jim stayed home from work most of Tuesday to keep an eye on me.  I did not want to be alone.  Jim only left for a couple of hours leaving me with strict instructions to stay put in bed until he got back.  I did have more bleeding that day, so I was glad he was home during that time.  

But that was it.  Negligible bleedling since then.  That doesn't mean I didn't spend the week worrying.  I'm good at worrying.  

What a waste of the week!  It really ticked me off that, after such a productive start, I was screwed the rest of the week because of this stupid bleeding that turned out to be nothing.

Great, it was nothing.  But I am so sick and tired of having one thing after another come up to mess with my productivity, my progress, my work, living my freakin' life!   This year I have been battling lots of health issues:  shoulder and knee injuries coming back to haunt me, foot issues, one cold after another, sleep issues, a kidney function scare (that turned out fine, too, by the way)--enough already.

I'm tired of being me.  I'm tired of doctors, tests, sicknesses, having trouble with mobility because of this stupid knee pain, being told to exercise and then having the knee hurt even worse afterwards, having trouble losing weight because I can't freakin' move without pain,  having trouble losing weight because I am resorting to comfort food eating because I'm frustrated about not being able to move and lose weight.  Get the picture?  Not a happy camper, here.

All this has led to me being down lately.  Actually, feeling down a lot this year so far.  But this week it hit me especially hard.  

But I have a pretty awesome support unit.  I found comfort in talking with friends, rather than chowing down on junk food, ironically.  (Finally, junk food didn't come into the picture.  I haven't had any all week!)  And, walking.  It has provided some much-needed stress relief.  The other night Jim and I went for a walk through the sprinklers in the park.  Something gave just then.  Something clicked.  I was suddenly in a playful mood.  I love those friends and I love those sprinklers.    

What helps you get through the tough times when health issues just about drive you crazy or send you reeling in despair?  Who are your go-to people who are always there for you when you need them?  What activities do you do to get out of a funk?  Shoot me an email or leave a comment and let me know.  Thanks.  Take care.