This morning while I was cycling on my recumbent exercise bike I was watching some YouTube video’s. Usually I listen to a Podcast, but I wanted to do something different. Then I thought, perhaps I should also change some of my daily routines and this challenge is what I have decided to do.
Why am I doing this?
Nearly four years ago I started this blog and it has been responsible for many positive things which have happened in my life since. For example, I joined the MS Society of Ireland MS & Me blogger group. This led me to being employed as a researcher on a feasibility trial in our local university, the National University of Ireland Galway. This trial is checking to see if a new therapy to treat cognitive problems experienced by people who have multiple sclerosis, people like me. My role in this job is to be the voice of the patient, to help guide the way the trial is conducted so it is suitable for people with MS. (You can read more about the trial here.)
This job is hugely rewarding. This illness is horrible. It has reduced my mobility to the point where I need a stairlift in the house, a mobility scooter for when I leave the home, and in addition, I have Persistent Post Traumatic Headaches (this means the headaches never go away). My work turns this negative, my illness, into a positive. I am using my nearly 30 years of living with this disease to help improve the lives of my community. This creates in me a chill of excitement. Even as I write this I am getting goosebumps with the thrill.
Why did I stop writing?
I was busy. Or so I think. Because of my various medical issues I have a limit on the amount of work I do in any week. 10 hours per week is my limit and the work in the university, plus my podcast, various other patient advocacy work has managed to fill this time. So I let my blogging slip, with only occasional posts. Perhaps I procrastinated, or am lazy, or maybe it is a consequence of being ill. I don’t want to blame myself, the fact is I just didn’t write.
A new leaf
My decision is to make writing for my blog a habit. Over the years I have found if I have a daily routine of something I tend to keep with it. Every morning I spend 12 minutes meditating, and I also journal after my breakfast. My plan is for the next 100 days to write something after I finish with my journaling. It may be a short post, or long, but the key is I must write. This is me creating a new habit. There will be days when it will seem impossible and other days when the muse will fill me up with so much to write. I wonder what will be the outcome of this experiment.
