Ok EJ,

Here is motivation from someone who couldn't even get out of bed when she lived in California. Well, I have to admit, I don't know if it is the moisture here in Kentucky, but I wake up every morning with every joint in my body hurting. I can't even close my fingers....my writst are so sore, I can't move them....ankles don't want to bend & both knees I had surgery in don't want to move either (one knee I had reconstructed 20 years ago & the other one, just minor surgery). I don't have a bed here in Kentucky while I am getting the house ready to move into. I purchased a lounge chair for out by the pool & I have been sleeping in that since May 15.

I am really surprised that I even feel any pain since the level of narcotics I am on for my migraines would knock a horse out....anyway, every morning, I get up & drowned myself in my hot shower. I just stand in the hot water for at least 10 minutes until all my parts start being able to move. After that, I can actually start functioning.

When I moved into the house, the pool equiptment wasn't working well & the leaks kept the suction from being able to clean the pool. Needless to say, it got so green, it had the water bugs in it, & the frogs took up home there. I had all the chemicals going into the pool, but the algae on the bottom wouldn't go away until it could get cleaned up by the suction of the cleaners on the bottom. Well, everything on the pool got fixed by about July 4, & the pool is up & running......so yesterday, I decided up jump into the pool & clean out the last few green spots manually with the pole cleaner. I never realized how many muscles it took to just move that thing through the water. I woke up this morning with my shoulders & back in pain......again...the hot shower!!!!! Later, I decided to take up the paint brush & help paint some of the trim in the bonus room. That kept the muscles moving too, but can't say it doesn't hurt anyway.

I think it must be my environment here. I have bought all these things to do in the house & have a list that is a mile long.....trying to get to at least one thing on the list everyday, definitely keeps my motivation up.....& watching it all come together definitely helps with the motivation too.

I would definitely say that without pain medication, it is hard to have any motivation while in pain. I know when I had my migraines so bad, I couldn't even get out of bed & any motivation was out of the question.

Take a good hot shower everytime the pain gets too much....(I find I end up taking at least 4 showers a day sometimes)....& make sure you have some medication to help. Having a list of things to do helps me.....especially when I see things getting checked off the list....that definitely helps motivate me even more.

Hope things start going better for you,
Debbie