Motivation -- Anyone got any?

Friends,

Maybe it's the pain in my right ankle, which is also in my right lower leg today, and been in my right knee as well for the last two days that has me down, but I'm having an awful time getting myself to do anything. This is not like me.

Anyone have any kind and tender words for me?

EJ

I’m afraid I’m rather low on motivation myself... However, I have got hugs and good wishes a–plenty for you!

I also think that if your body is in pain, it might be best not to push yourself by putting more strain on the right leg etc.

Unless things urgently need doing (in which case, it might be worth prioritising), have a well-deserved rest and do take care of yourself.

((((((( EJ ))))))))))

You're special. You can do this. Call your Dr. and let him know about the pain. They may be pushing you too hard in PT. See if you can get something for the pain to help you through this.

You can do it. I believe in you.

Hugs,

Jan

Hi Always and January,

I managed to get seven bills paid, which made me feel better.

I have one more week for the online class I'm teaching, and provided information to one student who fell behind due to a car accident, and I think someone else. So that was my other big priority for today.

My drugstore is closed for two plus weeks, b/c they are moving, which complicates getting more pain medication, but I think I will make that a priority for tomorrow.

I really appreciate your support right now.

EJ

(((((((((((((EJ711)))))))))))))))))

sorry you are finding it hard to motavate your self, i understand how this be frustrating at the moment but you have done quite well if you managed to pay some bills and get some information to your students, every day tasks can become sort of mundane, i find i seem to do some tasks like a robot,
hope you find things easier soon sorry about the pain you are in

i'm so glad to hear that you managed to do a couple of positive things...isn't it amazing how that can lift one's spirits?....i am often in pain myself so i can sympathize with you.......please take care of your pain meds tomorrow.....i know that i can't function without mine...........i try to tell myself that there is always tomorrow to get things done and when i can only sit or lay down because of the pain..i spend time with my books.it helps me alot

I sooooo need motivation AND structure. Unless someone has my feet nailed to the ground, I can flit from one thing to another and totally neglect what I must get done.

You know all my cutesy pictures? I should be WORKING when I'm making those.

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

but your cutesy pictures motivate me!

Hi Butterfly Lady, Petunia, Kathy and Eskielover,

Thank you everybody for caring enough to write.

I did icing last night on both my ankle and knee, and only my knee is still hurting today.

For my next trick, I'm going to try to get some pain meds from my doctor's office who doesn't return calls, to the other pharmacy in my town, b/c my regular pharmacy is closed for two weeks, b/c they are moving. I think this sounds like Murphy's Law.

Butterfly Lady, do you read novels? Have any good author's to recommend!!

Hugs (arms still working),

EJ

Friends,

Check off renewing pain medication. Husband was wrong about pharmacy being closed.
He came home in a panic on Saturday telling me our pharmacy was closed until July 30th. Anyway they were closed for a few days at their old location, and are moving to their new location on the 30th. The article in the newspaper wasn't very clear either.

Anyway I realized it's not just a lack of motivation I'm suffering from -- it's energy and direction as well.

It's also in the high 90's here this week. However, it is supposed to cool off on Friday, and extend on in over the weekend.

What I'm going to be doing in the Fall is also uncertain. It doesn't look like my "live" Macroeconomics class is going to get enough kids to be a "go". Actually, it may be better that way, but not knowing what I'm doing is taking it's toll too.

I think the reason my knee is hurting is that Missy, "Wild Dog", dog who tried to kill me, hit that knee from behind at high speed a week ago. The Kansas City Chiefs need this dog more than I do. It didn't start to hurt until almost a week later. Does that strike anyone as odd? Maybe it's due to a shifting weather system.

Anyway I appreciate everyone's support.

Hugs,

EJ

I'm not much motivated right now, and do need some "structure."
Having pain in my neck and upper back, just taking Tylenol, and trying to be gentle with myself.
Patty

Patty,

You hit the nail on the head -- I am lacking structure right now.

I'm just trying to get through this last week of teaching online. I've been teaching for almost two months now, and won't get paid until the end of the month. It is really exhausting after awhile, without having some money roll in to give me a pick-me-up -- nevermind my budget!!

I'm sorry you're having pain too.

(((((((Patty)))))))

EJ

Hi Eskielover,

I think there is generally more moisture on the East Coast than on the West.

Our property is beautiful and very atypical for Kansas -- 18 acres rolling hills, with two ponds set in side-by-side, and one-third of our property is covered in trees.

However, our 100+ farmhouse is more of a two-story bungalow. It feels like a shoebox, which was stood on its end. We have to haul water here, and the staircase going upstairs is dangerous at best. My husband and I have both fallen down the stairs twice. The steps are extremely uneven, and there is no railing on the top half. You have to duck at the bottom. So I'm staying off these stairs for now.

My shower is also dangerous. It is very small, and there is a metal lip at an awkward height to climb over getting in. I put my walker in, but there is nothing solid to hold onto. So anyway, the bottom line, is I don't feel safe taking a shower unless my husband is around.

Nevermind the fact, that if I use too much water, that means my husband has to go get some more water. We don't have rural water here.

My story is like a Chinese proverb. I got husband back to work three months ago. He is 67, b/c of our rural location, he is having to drive 50 miles to work, and is working in a building, which is not air conditioned. With the temps in the 90's this week, that means it is close or over 100 degrees in his building.

Thanks for writing.

EJ

EJ,

Oh my, your farm house almost sounds like the house in the movie "money pit". Is there any possibility of digging a well, so you don't have to hall in water? That doesn't sound very practical & very expensive & really a nuisance if you run out of water in the middle of a shower.

Sounds almost like it would be a good idea to put in a small prefab home with no stairs to have to deal with. I know that several of the farm homes I looked at here were being focused of being "historical".....more like "hysterical" & it would take more money to fix them than to just build another home. A good home was definitely a requirement for me. I was just lucky however that I found one at a price I could afford in a beautiful area.

I found out after moving in that my neighbor was the one that built my home 18 years ago. He had subdivided his farm, build the home for a family & the lady wouldn't move into it because of the cows & the smell that was across the street. Now that I have been having people coming in to do fixing on the house, I have found the problem areas, but overall, they all say that the house is solid, well build brick, two story home with a huge basement that has a beautiful brick fireplace in it just under the one in the family room.

Your 18 acres of rolling hills with trees & ponds sounds absolutely beautiful also. It is awsome to have that kind of beauty around you to be able to sit down & enjoy watching at sunrise & sunset. I hope you can get the house into a more user friendly setup. I know after having major knee surgery (reconstruction) & on crutches for 3 months, homes with stairs aren't very easy to deal with. Hope your knee problems will get better....physical therapy is definitely a must, but doesn't ever seem to get it back 100%.

Sounds like your husband has a bit of a trip to get to work & they dealing with the heat in the building too. I know that Kansas also has high humidity, so that doesn't help with the heat either . Hopefully this won't be a permanent situation for him.

I understand the problem with lack of structure. That definitely doesn't help with motivation either.....organizing tasks helps along with lists, but I know for me, when it is hot, I have even less motivation. At least I have a nice above ground pool to take a dip in when I need to cool off......but my favorite of all in a nice hot shower to loosen up my joints & muscles after a long day, or even to start the day out, since no part of my body wants to move in the morning.

Take care, & hopefully after the summer gets over, your motivation will pick up,
Debbie

Hi EJ -

Two things

hang in there.

And from all your friends


I'm afraid I can't say much about physical pain. I have a friend who is constantly on pain meds though and she's trying a method of making the pain a thing, like a chair in the room. She can't move the chair, but it's not the whole room. I don't know if that helps or not.

My pdoc is SO big on structure and I'm suffering from the lack thereof too. Glad you got a few items taken care of. It makes me feel good for a bit when I have 2 or 3 things I can say I've done. (Sometimes brushing my teeth and taking a shower count.)

Hoping everything turns out for you in all areas of your life.

PS - What kinds of books do you like to read? Maybe some of us could make some suggestions if you feel up to reading.

Eskielover,

Are you sending me money for the well and the prefab home?

EJ

Winter Rose,

What a great post! Cute smileys!!!

I like the idea about the pain being only one piece of furniture in the room!!! That's powerful!

I'm down to five days of teaching for the summer -- then get a break.

Thanks,

EJ

(((((((( EJ )))))))))

Often small township's fire departments will haul water to a home for a small donation. I don't know if you have a cistern or what, but one of the best ideas I've heard of lately is using a new plastic septic tank to store water. They are a lot cheaper than a conventional water tank.

Please be careful! I've been in old farmhouses built as you describe and even as a teen it was hard to go up and down steps like that.

Hugs,

Jan

Hi Jan,

Thank you for thinking of me.

Husband LOVES hauling water, but I would like to have a back-up alternative. I will try to remember to check with the fire department when I get a minute.

I have only been on the stairs once since my accident -- two plus months ago now. I made sure husband was home in case I got stuck. Husband graciously set up a bedroom downstairs for me when I came home from the hospital.

I'm glad somebody understands my stairs. Most people just look at me when I try to describe them -- as if they can't be that bad!

Hugs,

EJ

((((((((((((((((( EJ ))))))))))))))))

Have you seen the movie "The money pit'??????

I think you would definietly relate to it......probably get quite a few laughs & probably a few tears too.

Hope it starts going a bit better in the future. Guess there were quite a few limitations I put on the house I purchased.......my fixings are mostly cosmetic & only a couple of major things, but made sure I had the money to take care of it up front before I bought the house.

Hope you can get a handle on your house before it gets the best of you,
Debbie