celebrate the small victories

i had all these grand plans of getting caught up on blog posts since i've been stuck at home the last month but turns out when simple things are hard work blog posts aren't a priority. anywho it's been almost six weeks since i had a major flare up of my autonomic disorder and i think it's safe to (finally) say i'm feeling better.

its so easy to be thankful for health when I'm feeling great. i distinctly remember praying a few days before my flare up and asking God to help me be thankful even when i don't feel great. oh the irony.   

celebrate the small victories. 

i have not been able to escape this phrase the last six weeks. every time i would start to throw a grand pity party for myself this phrase would shut that party down. it actually got quite annoying at times. faking thankfulness (let alone being genuinely thankful) sucks when you can barely get out of bed. but that phrase would not go away. and i'm glad it didn't. rather than fixating on the negative i want to celebrate the positive. time to be a little Pollyanna and throw up sunshine and happiness 100% of the time.   

well friends here's a list of some of my small victories over the past 6 weeks. and if i didn't include the sarcastic slightly jaded after thoughts i just wouldn't be being honest. there were lots of "even though" blah blah blah. like i said i'm working on being thankful. learning to live with dysautonomia means lots of adjusting. the hardest one for myself is learning that it's okay to have zero expectations of myself on some days. that it's okay to celebrate these small victories.  

Celebrating the {extremely} Small Victories

any time i showered.
even when i would have to sit down in the shower. use cold water. shave only one leg. not wash my hair. lay on the ground when i finished showering. or take a nap after i showered cause i was too tired to blow dry my hair.

attending Reitz's first birthday party. 
this was seriously just all positive. 

walking on the treadmill.
for only 20 minutes. at 2.5 mph. and feeling horrible before, during and after. 

having three goals for the day and getting two done.
yay for being an overachiever. also getting out of bed counted as one goal.

cooking dinner. 
actually it was just half of dinner. and it was a crock pot meal.

working.
at the most once a week. yippee. also that one time i almost got sent home cause i was dizzy and apparently looked pale. i didn't mentioned i actually had bronzer on my face too.   

making it downstairs. 
to lay on the cough. bonus points for walking back up stairs. 

anytime i left the house. 
oh my gosh it's time for a field trip. half of the time i would be too tired to get out of the car once we got where ever we were going. 

being dizzy free.
only took me THREE WEEKS to get to this point

keeping up with school. 
thank goodness my classes are ridiculously easy this semester. 

getting pink tie dyed compression sleeves.
the highlight was buying them at a legit running store and having the sales guy ask if I was training for a marathon. um no sir i'm actually just trying to make it from my bed to the couch faster.

drinking salt water.
and not throwing up. juice + water + lime juice + salt = one tasty drink

being able to sleep.
yet never feeling rested. oh and sometimes sleeping 16+ hours at night and needing to nap. 

 

                                           

                   

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I'm sure this lovely disorder will teach me many more life lessons over the years. Until then I will keep celebrating the small victories (hopefully there will be some a tad bit more exciting) and snapping pictures to document the fun. also I have to say how thankful I am for my husband and mom. they are my biggest cheerleaders and are often celebrating my small victories before I am. I just love them to pieces.