If you think that sounds like I've got it arseways, then you would be wrong. It makes perfect sense. Let me explain.
My body requires a certain degree of "reading". If I'm making plans, I have to consider various things that could impact my body and cause it to flame-on.
How much travelling will be involved? Will I need my snazzy stick? Will there be opportunities to sit down or cool down?
I also need to make sure I factor in recovery time. Gone are the days of my late teens/early 20s when I'd start work at 6am, finish at 1pm and then meet my friend in the pub and stay there all day and be fresh as a very slightly wilted daisy the next day.
Now, I have more than an alcohol hangover to contend with, and no matter how small the event, I need time on the other side of it to decompress and rest. So if I'm trying to organise funs, I'll try to keep some annual leave in reserve in case I need to have a long weekend.
It's frustrating to have to think about so many things in advance and it never stops me worrying that people will think I'm a burden, but the alternative is to live in hermitude even more steadfastly than I already do, so body reading it is!
Mind building is required to pump up my mental resilience in order to be able to bear the load that my body issues puts it under. My last flare-up was so much more sustained and crushing this time around because my mental resilience just couldn't take the weight this time.
So how do you build up your mind? Well, I'm still trying to work that out myself. I think the key lies in being kinder to all of me. Not punishing and berating myself all the time, not seeing things in terms of a battle between my body and my brain but a collaboration instead.
In the words of the Fun House children's game show intro music, and an appropriate way to end this post:
Use your body and your brain
If you wanna play the game
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