On the 24th April I decided to embark on a massive challenge, to write a blog post every day for 100 days. Over the last 23 days I have written 21 posts, missing two days. One of which was yesterday. I have really enjoyed the process of having to write, share the content, and then respond to any reactions to my posts. It has been a positive experience.
You will notice I am using the past tense. Unfortunately, I have had to make a decision. This is part of life, any life. We all try to do what is best, both for us, and those around us. For the last three weeks I was writing and this process took much more out of my day than I expected. No matter what I did, it took about an hour to write and share a post. If I was healthy, I would have been able to absorb this, by having a little less leisure time, or cutting something else from my schedule.
To achieve my objective I ended up not doing some other tasks, plus my physiotherapy took a big hit. I need to exercise every day, to keep moving my legs, build upper body strength and get some cardiovascular exercise. Blogging took away from this, resulting in worsening mobility, increased weight and lost energy. Long term this will be detrimental to me physically, and potentially, mentally. These are some very negative impacts of writing a few blog posts.
Why am I in this position?
My illnesses retract the amount of time I have available for activity in any day. There are days when I can do very little, mainly due to doing too much the day before. There are always costs. My Persistent Post Traumatic Headaches get worse if I am fatigued, concentrate too long on something, or if I am stressed or anxious about something. Multiple Sclerosis gives me fatigue, poor mobility and dodgy sensation. All of these combine to restrict my activity every day and the blog posts make everything worse.
Decision
Often we need to make decisions, some are easy to make with an obvious choice, others are tricky, choosing between the lesser of two evils. This time it has been easy. I cannot sacrifice my health, to write these words.
My decision is to stop writing daily and to make a commitment to write a post weekly. This will fit better with my schedule, permitting me to exercise regularly, complete my other activities without the time pressure, bringing a better balance back into my life. Yesterday I was able to get outside for some fresh air on a scooter ‘walk’ and I had the time to use my home gym. Harmony has returned.
Chronic Illness Decisions
I often describe MS as the transition disease. We have to make so many changes to our life, continually adapting to the needs of the beast. If we do too much, it creates a weakness in us, allowing this monster to exert more control. Pacing, managing our activities and having mental balance, permit us to have some sort of normality in our lives. Anything which disturbs this, is detrimental to our health outcome.
I am disappointed I had to make a choice, as I have been enjoying the challenge, but my health comes first.
You’ve made the right decision – without a doubt. And it sounds like you know that as well. I’m sorry for those of us that enjoy your perspective and your writing. But MS hasn’t won another round. I LOVE that you’re just pivoting to what will work better for you – and we’ll still get your words once a week. All my best. #FUMS
Thank you Kathy. For the sake of cutting down the number of posts, I will be able to achieve more, I hope. Sometime we need to know when to change our plan.