I have my cell phone set on a timer; in ten minutes, I will click Publish, and this blog post will be on its way to you, and I can stretch out my hands.
I really don't like going a week without blogging, not unless, of course, I am on vacation and I am resting for fun. But I've had good reason to be away from the computer: I've had to fix myself let my body fix itself.
Last week, a seething pain went through my right wrist, up my forearm and into my shoulder. It was a pain that didn't get better even with stretching so I put myself on a self imposed break. It was, I believe a repetitive strain injury (RSI), most likely caused by the way I grab on to my tiny little mouse as if it was the root cause of life itself. I had been spending a lot of time on the computer, and it was my body's way of saying - "Enough, already!"
By the second day of my symptoms, I cried, my withdrawals starting - I didn't want to spend any time away from the words I had to write. I started panicking, planning out my purchase for a speech-to-text program. The entire house was in a tizzy, with everyone trying to console me, patting me on the back, bringing me ice and words of encouragement. My family = my best supporters.
After a couple of days of pain, I got better, only to wake up on Monday feeling like someone had charged a jolt into my thumb. I cried then too. And on Tuesday.
Anyway, today, I am much better,
physically and emotionally. And appreciative for the use of my hands, for these 10 minutes I am able to write, and being able to still reach out to you. The moments that we can try to bring our dreams to fruition, I keep realizing, can be sidelined in an instant. So why not take those moments and run with it? There's no reason to wait, even if it's only 10 minutes at a time.
It was a great lesson for me, so after I hit Publish, I will write down my to do list for the day as if the last week never happened. (with some hand stretching thrown in there for good measure) And I'm picking up my highlighters and my sticky pads and will mark up my papers with pleasure. (and then maybe do some yoga) And hopefully, I will joyfully pin down a quilt I need to finish for my baby niece. (then ice, ice, ice) But I'm going for it.
I hope you have a Go-For-It! Thursday yourself!
