Simplifying Life: Getting Organised

As I mentioned in my previous post, I’m currently in the process of decluttering and simplifying my life. I’ve come to realise that a big part of this is getting things organised, finding a home for every item so that it can be put away easily every time, and making sure things are close to where you need them.

I’m also a strong believer in being sustainable. This means that where ever possible I’m trying to reuse or find a new owner for the items we’ve identified as not needed. If possible I want to keep as much of the ‘stuff’ I’m removing through the decluttering process out of the trash can.

At the moment my focus is on decluttering our spare room where all my sewing stuff and our items that to date haven’t had a home are kept. I haven’t quite finished, but I’ve been organising all the secondhand/donated material that I have for my sewing projects. We’ve repurposed an Ikea cupboard from the living room to store my material neatly.

Repurposed cupboard to neatly store sewing supplies

I’ve still got my suitcase of material from Christmas and a couple of bags of smaller/scrap material to sort through but so far I thing it looks great! Before this process the material was in about 6 different boxes and bags piles messily in the spare room, difficult to see what I actually had, and taking up at least a quarter of the room. When I’m finished the material will only take up as much room as that cupboard and I’ll be able to easily see what I have. The larger pieces of material are visible in the four open  cubes while all the smaller bits are folded neatly, tied with twine into colour groups and stored in the boxes within the other four cubes.

I’ve separated out quite a lot of scrap material that I don’t believe will be suitable for sewing. These I will be cutting into reasonable sized pieces, simply sewing around the edges to make sure they don’t frey, and turning them into cleaning cloths for around the house.

As part of making sure things are where they will be used I’m setting up 3 ‘cleaning sets’ that will have their own colour coded set of cloths and the natural cleaning supplies necessary to do the cleaning jobs in their designated area. There will be one for the kitchen, one for the bathroom/toilets, and one for the rest of the house that will live in the laundry.

Today I purchased the first few supplies.

The three buckets that will be the basis for my cleaning sets

Other cleaning supplies for the kits and a new small bin for the bathroom (to throw dirty cleaning cloths in to be washed)… (sorry for the blurry picture!)

I’m looking forward to setting this up in a way that will work for us. Given that we have the cleaners coming in to do the big clean fortnightly, at this stage the cleaning kits will mainly be used for the day to day wipe downs. The spray bottles will contain vinegar and I will be getting small containers of bicarb soda, as these two items combined forms the basis for most cleaning tasks.

Do you have a process in place that has simplified cleaning for you?

How have you organised your house to allow you to live a simplified or manageable lifestyle?

Simplifying Life

Pushing to the limits, constantly in motion, always thinking of the next task… That was what my life was like before chronic illness.

Chronic illness has set extreme limitations for me, as I’m sure it does for many of you out there, and I’ve found that these limitations have led to additional stress and guilt about not being able to do all the things I used to do beforehand.

Since managing to increase my energy levels enough to participate in life in some small way, I have begun looking for ways to live within my limits and manage my symptoms. I’ve shared some of my experiments and techniques with you already but today I want to talk about the overarching principle which is currently guiding my decision process.

Keep it Simple!

There are several steps that need to be worked through when you’re simplifying your life. I’m still in the very early stages but would like to share some of what I’ve learnt already, what I’m currently doing and what I’m hoping to do in the future.

1. Identify clear priorities. By clarifying for yourself what your priorities are it is easier to eliminate tasks, items, and activities that do not work towards your priorities. As part of this process it’s useful to make yourself a set of guidelines to assist with the next step.
2. Eliminate the unnecessary. This applies to stressful situations, people, events, items you don’t actually need or use around the house, and activities that aren’t helping you get to your priorities.
3. Set a flexible routine. Having things that happen regularly means that there are less choices that need to be made, simplifying day to day life. However, it’s important to be able to change plans when necessary so make sure your routine is flexible.
4. Be true to yourself. The priorities and guidelines you’ve identified should guide all future actions. For example, I’ve made a decision that unless it’s absolutely necessary I’m not purchasing new items any more. So every time I decide I want to get something I stop and ask myself ‘Do I actually need this?’ If the answer is No, I don’t buy it.
5. Reassess and Repeat. This is not a once of activity. Set a regular time to reassess your priorities and repeat the elimination step regularly to make sure you don’t start complicating things again.

What I’ve done so far

I’ve shared with you the process I’ve gone through to identify what I’m passionate about and have set myself priorities based on the outcomes of that.

My priorities (in no particular order) are:

• Family and Friends
• Health
• Mindfulness
• Simplify
• Continual Learning
• Work

Each day I identify something I can do to work towards goals that fit my priorities. I make sure I do at least one thing towards each of these goals.

For example, today I’ve helped a friend out with a work issue (Family and Friends), done my yoga and exercise physiologist prescribed exercises (Health), did my morning meditation practice and have been mindful of my thoughts while completing my activities (Mindfulness), I have remained focus on single tasks at a time/no multitasking (Simplify), completed my weekly work for uni (Continual Learning), and set up access for two of my contributing bloggers forLiveKen (Work).

I have begun decluttering. I am slowly working my way through the house identifying items we never use or haven’t used in the last 6-12 months. These items are being offered to family and friends, donated to charity, or (only if broken and not fixable) thrown out.

I’ve scheduled daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, half-yearly and yearly reflect and review times. Tomorrow is my first annual review. I will be spending the day identifying my commitments, priorities and targets for the next 12 months.

I’m reading several books and other blogs (my favourite at the moment is Zen Habits) to help guide me and inspire me as I move forward on this journey.

Even though I haven’t got very far yet, it already feels like a weight has been lifted off me. As I reduce the clutter in the house it becomes easier to maintain a tidy area (I still can’t do a lot of household chores and have cleaners come in fortnightly to do the more difficult items such as cleaning the bathroom, vacuuming and mopping).

I look forward to sharing this journey with you as I find more and more ways to live a simplified, mindful, fulfilling life with all my chronic illnesses.

Have you taken any steps to simplify your life?

What have you found works for you?

Laughter + Medicine

Laughter is definitely part of my health regime.

hcldr

Blog post by Colin Hung

Last week’s #hcldr chat on Emotional Support For Patients, Families and Clinicians After An Adverse Event featured special guests Linda K Kenney (@lindakkenney) and Winnie Tobin (@wntobin). Both are from the MITSS organization out of Boston which helps healthcare providers implement programs to help people after an error has occurred.

The chat on June 10^th was one of our most popular – with over 1600 tweets and 11 Million impressions during the hour. A full transcript is available via our friends at Symplur in case you missed it. Also, there are two Storify summaries of the chat: one for the interesting tweets and another full of resources that were shared.

Over the past several weeks the #hcldr community has been exploring very interesting and controversial topics. We have talked about philanthropy, adverse events, women & medicine, aging & epatients, care…

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Living with chronic illness – two steps forward, one step back

Since my birthday the other week, I’ve felt like I’ve gone from moving forward to taking a giant leap backwards.

 

Homemade Birthday Cake (Gluten and Dairy Free)

I know that progress is meant to be 2 steps forward, one step back but I feel that this has been more than one step back!

I feel like in terms of activity levels, focus ability and pain levels I’ve gone back at least one month maybe more.

On my birthday I attempted to do a day of work-related activity (I attempted to attend a networking event I would normally attend as part of my job). The trip into town had already left me feeling drained of energy and in a deep fog but I managed to focus for the first 30 minutes to an hour. After that fatigue and pain levels started reaching a point that I couldn’t remain focused. I managed to stay for 3 hours but realistically should probably have left after the first hour.

Since then brain fog, fatigue (exhaustion, whatever you want to call it!) and pain levels have been bad. I’ve been struggling to get up again in the mornings after just having got to the point I could get up at 7 am and function at a low level for most of the day. I’m needing to rest more during the day, and my pain won’t drop back down.

Overdoing it, not only on my birthday but during the week surrounding it, has had a larger impact than I was expecting.

This clearly demonstrates to me, and those around me, that I’m not ready to even consider returning to work full time. Unfortunately, it has also made me struggle with staying positive the last few weeks. I’m trying everything I can to stay positive and to continue to move forward. Reminding myself that the set back is temporary and that, as E keeps reminding me, rest is my number one priority. Everything else is secondary to that.

I need to keep myself on track to make sure I don’t fall into a depression. Staying positive is what has got me this far, I need to keep it up so that I can keep going!

Why Does Mommy Hurt by Elizabeth Christy – Book Review

During the process of fundraising for the Foggy Frog and the Pain Gang picture book I was introduced to many exciting and wonderful people. One of these people was Elizabeth Christy from The Potomac Falls Mama and Parents with Pain. Elizabeth is an amazing woman doing many wonderful things for her local and the global community.

Elizabeth has also written a book that was originally to help her son understand what she was going through. This book, Why does Mommy hurt?, was recently published and I have got my hands on both the eBook and print copy of the book.

The front cover of the paperback version.

Back cover of the paperback version.

This book is perfect for anyone living with any chronic pain condition that has children in their life. Although written about ‘mommy’ the concepts and messages can be applied to anyone with chronic pain.

After the story, Elizabeth has also provided information on further resources and activities you can do with your children on high pain days. This definitely adds to the value of the story.

Elizabeth has clearly explained the issues and concepts that children need to be aware of when they are trying to cope with a family member (or even friend) who has a chronic pain condition. The story is told from the point of view of the young boy so children can easily follow.

The illustrations are simple, but add to the story line and help clarify some of the points raised in the text. James Miller (Elizabeth’s father) has done a fantastic job illustrating the book.

I was slightly disappointed with the quality of the paperback version of the book. For me the pages feel too thin and flimsy, and while I like the matte finish of the internal pages the cover is too glossy for me (it reflects the light when I’m looking at it). However, the content of the book make up for these very minor disappointments.

Also, being based in Australia, the spelling (American) is somewhat frustrating for me, for example ‘mommy’ instead of ‘mummy’ (again a very minor issue). It would be great if in the future (when the book is a success) a separate version could be created for the Australian/UK market.

Overall, I’d definitely recommend this book to anyone suffering from a chronic pain condition who have children in their life. It is a great way of explaining the issues and involving the children in your life in a way that doesn’t impact on your health or leave them upset for not being able to interact with you. It is also a great companion book for Foggy Frog and the Pain Gang when we get that available for you too.

Well done Elizabeth! You have done an amazing job with this book and I’m looking forward to the launch in July. I’m also looking forward to working with you on projects in the future.

On a completely separate note, we have got the blog part of the LiveKen website up and running. Head over to check out our first post and if you’re not already part of our email newsletter subscribe today either here or over at liveken.com!

Are you ready to join me on an exciting adventure?

Since completing my list of 100 Life Goals and identifying my driving emotions I have begun working on some exciting new projects which will help me live a life in line with my beliefs, values and passions.

I believe it is possible for us to live in a world where people respect their own bodies, the people around them and the environment in which they live. For this to come true, I believe we need to work together to gain the understanding and knowledge necessary to inspire and empower ourselves and those around us.

This belief was further fueled this week when I was privileged to be able to hear Dr Jane Goodall speaking live in my home town. She outlined her successes in a way that was humble and that recognised the input from so many other people to help her get to where she is today. She made it clear that she believed that if everyone played their small part and did what ever small action they could to turn a ‘black’ (unsustainable/damaged) area near them into a ‘green’ (or whatever colour you prefer) area then together, as a collective, we can make a difference and change the way people view the world. By working individually and in a team, we can change the world.

Top 5 things I learnt from Dr Jane Goodall’s presentation

1. There is always a window of hope. We just need to be aware it’s there and do what we can to nurture it and help it grow.
2. By making small changes, together we can make a difference. As I mentioned above, a key message that Jane put across was that we need to look small so we don’t get overwhelmed by the larger picture and all the negativity there is about how the world is at the moment.
3. When developing new products/services always listen to the community and provide what they’re asking for first. When she first noticed the plight of the Chimpanzees, she also noted the plight of the local people in surrounding villages. To help the Chimpanzees, Jane first listened to the people in the villages and began by helping them with basic needs like more food.
4. Start with awareness, but make sure it leads to behaviour change. Increasing people’s understanding of an issue is only going to help if these people can also make changes that fix the issue. Make sure that any awareness programs are linked to achievable action plans that lead to behaviour change.
5. With the right support and encouragement, anything is possible. Ever since she was 10 years old in war time England, Jane dreamed of living in Africa and writing books about the animals. This was in a time when it was thought to be impossible, especially for a young woman, and most people discouraged her and thought her dreams were crazy. Her mother though supported her and provided her with the sage advice that “if you really want to do something, make sure you are prepared to get there and take every opportunity you can to make it happen“. This is exactly what Jane did, and she was able to fulfill her childhood dreams.

How I’m going to use that advice, and how you can too

As is evident from this blog, before Dr Goodall’s talk I was already dreaming and planning out ways in which I could work with others in the Spoonie (Chronic Illness) community to help others in a similar situation to where I was. The Foggy Frog picture book was the first incarnation of me attempting to actually take action on these dreams and plans.

What may not be so obvious from this blog, mainly because I’ve been too ill to even consider my previous dreams until now, is that I’ve also had a long-held dream to deliver awareness and behaviour change programs related to sustainability (for school groups, community groups, and corporate groups). I have for the last 6 years said that my life long dream is to obtain a block of land from which I could run hands-on conservation and sustainability workshops and school camps or corporate retreats.

Although I may have to modify that second dream slightly to accomodate the fact that I don’t have as much energy or stamina (without increasing pain) as I used to, I have begun the process of attempting to combine these two dreams.

I have shared some ideas recently with people I trust and I’m close to, and together with two friends (one old and one new) I have begun the process to take that next step that will help us take the Foggy Frog campaign and our shared dreams and passions to the next level.

What is this new opportunity?

I’m excited to introduce to you:

We are going to be completely open and transparent about what we are doing and so, even before our products are ready to launch, we are working on getting our website live in the next week so that you can all join along with us for the journey, through blog posts and (if you want to) through joining our creative team of volunteers donating time, skills and expertise to helping us reach our goal.

What do we plan on doing?

At LiveKen, we want to work with you to gain the knowledge, understanding, awareness and support necessary to achieve a fulfilling, sustainable lifestyle where you have a positive impact on your health, the people around you, and the planet we live on.

We are business working with the community for the community.

All of our products have been, and will be, developed through an open and transparent method that (like with the Foggy Frog picture book) allows the community to be involved from the very beginning of development so that the products and services fit their needs.

Why do are we doing it?

A strong passion for sustainable living and community engagement, combined with a deep understanding and awareness of the issues faced by those of us with invisible chronic illnesses.

Without knowing how and why we should act, we won’t.

We believe that people should have the understanding and awareness to make their own decisions about life, and we want to help them get there.

How can you get involved?

If you are passionate about raising awareness and understanding of, and helping people take action about, chronic illness or sustainability I invite you to join us and become part of the volunteer/community network that supports LiveKen in achieving our goals.

Until our site is up and running, please contact us below if you are interested in providing support in any way and if you’re just interested in being kept up to date, sign up to the monthly Foggy Frog Newsletter (soon to get a name change as the Foggy Frog campaign will be migrating to LiveKen).

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Birthday celebration week

Tomorrow is my birthday!

The celebrations, though, started today and will continue until at least next Wednesday (a whole week  of celebrations).

E is away at the moment and won’t be back until next Wednesday so I’ll be celebrating with him when he gets back.

Today I had afternoon tea with his parents and Amma and Uppa. We had a delicious cake and I was given some wonderful presents including homemade cookies and cake, a massage cushion for my office chair, a vintage leather satchel bag, home knitted cowls and some delicious teas.

Homemade Birthday Cake (Gluten and Dairy Free)

I haven’t taken photos of all the presents and I don’t really have the energy to now but I’m definitely very happy and grateful for all the love and kindness that has gone into making the first day of my birthday celebrations so great.

Each of these gifts takes into account my needs and values. I am grateful for the massage cushion, as I have definitely found using my mums to be helpful, the homemade and vintage gifts for their thoughtfulness and sustainable use of materials, and the teas because tea is always a good thing, especially in winter!

Today I also had a delicious lunch out with my brother and got my own TENS machine (I have to return my Physio’s one next week). This has made the day very long but full of special moments for me, I just need to remind myself I still need to pace myself through the rest of the week.

It’s also one of my best friend’s birthday today, so I dropped a present off at her house for her as well.

Tomorrow is my actual birthday and for some reason I decided that would be a great day to see how I go with coping with a day at “work”. I’ve registered to attend a networking event that I would normally attend as part of my job. It goes from 9.30 to 3.30, which means leaving home around 8.10 am to get the bus! I’ve lined up my brother to come pick me up if it turns out I can’t make it through the day but my plan is to try and pace myself while I’m out and see how I go.

I’ll be having dinner and spending the night at mums that night.

Saturday will be about celebrating with friends. My birthday present to myself was a ticket to go see Jane Goodall talk that morning at the zoo with one of my friends and then a few of us will be having a quiet celebration at one of their houses.

… Given all of that, I believe next week will be all about recovery!

I’ll still be here and will aim to share some more about the exciting new ventures planned for the next few months but I will be taking it slowly and playing it by ear a bit.

Thank you to each and everyone of you who has, and will, make the celebration of turning another year older one of happiness, love and kindness. When I look back over the last year, to where I was at this stage, I realise how far I’ve come. Last year I was only just beginning to realise what this illness meant for me, I hadn’t been diagnosed and I didn’t really understand that it was chronic. Today I’ve accepted my condition and I’m learning, in leaps and bounds, how to live a sustainable and fulfilling life WITH my illness. I am no longer fighting, instead I’m going along for the ride and seeing where life takes me.Until next week, have fun and enjoy life but don’t forget to look after yourself!

How do you celebrate your birthday?

How do you manage to pace yourself when there are several events on?

How far have you come in the last year?

The 100 Goal Challenge: My Life To-Do-List

As discussed in last week’s post about Finding Your Passion, the first steps are to undertake the 100 Goal Challenge and use your answers to identify your Driving Emotions.

I shared my Driving Emotions and their definitions in the previous post and as requested I’m sharing my list of 100 Goals with you today. I apologise in advance for the lengthy post (I’ve tried to break it up with images so it’s not just text). I hope the goals inspire you and help you in creating your own Life To-Do List (100 goals).

Looking through them I think I can break them down into my Defining the Best ME categories (Mental, Physical, Wisdom) and some fit into more than one category.

Here we go:

1. Start/Run my own business
2. Have 2 children/start a family
3. Develop/run educational resources/sessions for business, community and schools/unis
4. Visit the Great Barrier Reef
5. Visit Tasmania
6. Work internationally
7. Travel to Europe/UK
8. Do 30 minutes walk/run/ride daily
9. Daily yoga
10. Daily meditation
11. Travel to Africa/See wild Gorillas
12. Participate in 12hr Rogaine (I did this when I first got ill – before I realised how serious it was – and would love to have the energy/low pain levels to do it again)
13. Contribute to charity regularly
14. Publish Foggy Frog Picture book

    

    The dummy book for Foggy Frog…

15. Work nationally
16. Have annual holidays
17. Build own house
18. Annual income of $100,000 (This one I’m really not sure about, I’d be happy with earning just enough to live off, but the process said to dream big so that’s what I tried to do)
19. Retire with enough financial security to continue annual holidays
20. Celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary (It’s our 3rd this year)

    

    On our Wedding Day
    Photo (c) M. Vovers, 2011

21. Continue to learn something new each year
22. Learn to sew my own clothes

    

    Patterns I’ve bought but not sewn yet

23. Live as sustainably as possible
24. Complete my Bachelor of Education
25. Help others live sustainably

    

    The last campaign I ran before getting ill in 2013. Focusing on riding and travelling to work.

26. Help others understand chronic illness
27. Have monthly dinner parties with family and friends
28. Have monthly games afternoons with friends (board games)
29. Clean out old and unused things and give to people who will use them
30. Set up my own space for sewing, drawing and studying
31. Plant and maintain veg garden

    

    Our veggie garden last year

32. Find a mentor(s) to help me achieve my goals (I’ve found one business mentor already since setting this goal, but I feel that I would benefit from a team of people I can go to for advice/support)
33. Schedule time weekly to reflect/review my goals and achievements
34. Achieve work/life balance (need to work out what this actually means to me)
35. Have a weekly ‘date’ with E
36. Pay off our mortgage
37. Only buy quality items
38. Save 10% of my income
39. Organise a financial plan
40. Teach my children how to save, invest and create wealth for themselves (need to teach myself this first so I know what I’m talking about… still not too clear on investments and wealth creation)
41. Teach my children to live sustainably
42. Ensure I have regular health checks
43. Read every week (would love daily if possible)
44. Learn to live a fulfilling life with my chronic illnesses

    

    Retrieved from Facebook.

45. Swim regularly 1-2 x a week
46. Visit T in Hong Kong
47. Develop networks to help make my ideas reality
48. Visit Japan
49. Teach my children to cook
50. Schedule time to draw
51. Learn to belly dance
52. Get a family dog
53. Participate in a yoga/health retreat
54. Find a hobby E and I can do together (used to hike regularly but I’m not up to that at this stage)
55. Learn to be more assertive
56. Get monthly massages
57. Learn to play the guitar better
58. Write 2 blog posts a week
59. Spend a day by myself every 6 months focusing on reviewing and renewing my goals and plans
60. Find a weekly routine that works (I feel very flustered lately as I can’t settle into one routine with things changing all the time)
61. Write a will
62. Go on a 4 week holiday by myself
63. Write regular articles for other blogs/websites/media sources
64. Learn to cook more delicious and healthy dairy and gluten free meals
65. Spend time in nature regularly

    

    A bird bath on a community walking trail near work.

66. Enter writing competition and win
67. Organise an annual event to raise awareness of, and funds for research into, chronic illness
68. Act as a mentor for someone
69. Have quarterly girls nights/afternoons/days with my closest friends
70. Get Foggy Frog into libraries, schools and homes around the world
71. Keep a gratitude jar and read the contents yearly

    

    My gratitude corner (bedside table)

72. Create a neighbourhood/community sustainability group to catch up and share ideas
73. Be present and mindful every day
74. Develop a morning and evening routine
75. Keep a regular journal
76. Incorporate physio recommended exercises/stretches into daily life
77. Declutter my life
78. Spend a weekend away with E every 6 months
79. Learn more about business mangement and marketing
80. Deliver a TED talk (about my work and education programs?)
81. Smile every day

    

    Christmas 2013…

82. Learn to deal with conflict
83. Write every day
84. Frame our pictures and display them in the house
85. Interact with people who support my vision
86. Make a firm career decision and pursue it
87. Be well regarded and respected for my work
88. Develop a realistic business plan, implement the plan and follow through
89. Assist 10 people to live a fulfilling life with a chronic illness
90. Get my superannuation strategy working for me
91. Maintain a healthy weight
92. Have regular skin checks
93. Have monthly goals to focus on
94. Build a team around me to help me reach my goals
95. Be around for my children as much as possible
96. Visit my Uncle in Vietnam
97. Buy local as much as possible
98. Focus on experiences not possesions
99. Eat vegetables with every meal
100. Focus on the good things in life

     

     I found this little guy while walking with a friend Christmas Eve 2012… He made us smile, we took photos but left him for others to find and enjoy as well.

 What I’ve learnt from creating this list

The following are the key important things I’ve pulled from my list:

• Helping others/Educating and Awareness Raising. As I go through this list I can count over 10 items that relate to helping/teaching others about different things.
• Having a support team and strong relationships with my family and friends.  Again multiple items on the list focus on spending time with or identifying others who can help me/I can help them.
• Sustainable living. In terms of how I live my life, my financial security, and how I interact with others, having a positive impact instead of a negative one is key.
• Structure and Simplicity. In order to manage my illness and remain as healthy as possible I should aim to have some structure in my daily/weekly routines and I should simplify as much as possible. (This will be a focus of a future post)

Have you completed your 100 Goal Challenge?

If so, what have you learnt from reviewing the goals you’ve set?

If not, has my list helped you identify a few more things you could add to your own?

Chronic fatigue or lazy-itis?

What do doctors really think?

I’ve struggled to find doctors that take my illness seriously.

My GP is great, but definitely pushes the exercise a bit to hard for me (his background is in exercise physiology or something like that) but thankfully my exercise physiologists hold me back and remind me regularly that slow and steady is the way to win the race.

I just need to keep reminding myself to apply these principles to the rest of my life…

Raindrops and Lollipops

Having conquered an entire four lengths of the swimming pool (followed by a lengthy wallow in the jacuzzi), my doctor now wants me to try lifting some light weights to build up muscle density. She said I can even start at home with canned goods.

Four years ago last month I ran the London marathon. Twenty-six-point-two miles of sweat, back ache, wild cheering crowds, being overtaken by obscenely fit pensioners and the occasional camel – it was one of the greatest days of my life. Today, I risk ending my days trapped underneath a pile of baked bean tins. A lot has changed.

Has my attitude towards exercise taken a dramatic turn over the last four years? Have I suddenly become terminally lazy? Survived a terrible car accident and lost the use of my limbs? None of the above. Relentless fatigue simply arrived in my life after a period of battling depression and anxiety. I started needing a…

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20 Things I’m Learning That You May Already Know

I’m definitely learning these over and over again this year.. Do you already know them?