Staying/Getting/Doing Well – Moving goalposts or fixed target?

[Paw Prints]

Hi, this is my first post, though I have been reading the forums for some weeks. I’m probably expressing myself badly when I say that I have found reading about other people’s journeys reassuring. Finding a community of people who “get it” even when they have a wide variety of experiences and lives lived is not something I thought I would ever find.

Though people talk about getting well & there is a section Staying Well, I’m curious as to what this actually means to other people and how they manage their expectations. I noticed some people refer to being well as ‘being like themselves before they got ill’, whilst others don’t express an exact aim.

My idea of being well has changed over the years. I was first diagnosed as an 8 year old child back in the late sixties. The doctors told Mum that the voices in my head & the sudden crying bouts were because I suffered from ‘nerves’ & I was given meds to calm me. Of course such things were not discussed back then & I was told not to talk about it to anyone, not my school friends nor siblings, just Mum. For decades after my idea of being well simply meant being able to hide my illness from others.

A number of events in my life caused my illness to worsen, until some years ago I became so ill I needed to be hospitalised for my own safety. This lead to my current diagnosis of Major Depression, Anxiety & PTSD. I’m no longer in that dark place, but each day is still a battle (though I can now believe in a future). For now only my siblings & one friend know about my illness, though some things they still don’t know.
So, what does ‘being well’ mean to me, it is ever moving goalposts. If you had asked me 5 years ago would I be as well as I am now I would have thought it impossible as I couldn’t envision a future. If you had asked me last week (during one of my down periods) I would have said my progress was all an illusion & I was fooling myself that things can get better.
For now my idea of being well is being able to believe that things can change for the better, that I will one day be able to manage the everyday things like housework, caring for myself & caring for my dog & maybe, just maybe I will even be able to enjoy myself.

Paw Prints
**I took the tip to give myself time to write my post by writing on a word doc & then paste it.

[Eagle Ray]

Thank you kind walrus 🙏😌

[Paw Prints]

Hello ER, wave to Croix,

I'm glad to hear you are getting away to a caravan park for a break. 

To help you think of other things... I can update you on my not being stressed mindset from 2 weeks ago.  It has sort of continued though not exactly as it started.  I decided to start going to bed early, anywhere between 7pm & 8:30pm, in an attempt to reset my getting up time so I didn't end up spending most of each day in bed. I've been getting up as early as 4am some mornings, but more often about 6am & the odd thing is I'm finding I'm having a much better mental state for the day if I get up before dawn.  My stress levels about the state of my house have dropped, not a lot, but enough to notice & I'm doing little bits here & there, actually getting things done. I do still need to not try & get lots done in a short space of time as that still throws me, but I am feeling a small shift.  Now the hard part... to keep doing it until getting up that early is my default setting.

Now what else can I rabbit away about to distract you??....  Oh I know... I read a rather interesting article on the BBC News web site about the 4 benefits of going for a walk in the rain.  One of them is "the boosting of our serotonin levels in a way akin to what people get from intensive exercise".  They believe it is from the negative ions released when rain drops splatter against something, but they still aren't sure of the how or why.  I must admit for me going for a walk in the rain seems far more doable & enjoyable than intensive exercise.

I will keep this short.

Hugs 

Paws

[Croix]

Dear Paws (with a wave to ER)~

It sounds a simple thing to try, after all an awful lot of people around the world go to bed around sundown and get up at sunrise, so maybe you are getting more aligned with a basic human rhythm, I hope it keeps on giving a benefit. You are not missing much on TV:)

Rather interesting rabbiting,  the walking in the rain, did it mention if you have to get wet or can walk with an umbrella etc? My capacity for physical exercise is very limited, however I think I might be able to manage a little of that.

Croix

[Eagle Ray]

Hello Paws and Croix,

Paws, that’s wonderful you are experiencing those benefits of getting up early before dawn. I also find I do better on days that I get up before dawn too. I wonder if the mental state is helped because of something to do with circadian rhythm and serotonin? When I think about it, the people I know who are early risers tend to be the happiest. It’s like they have more vitality. It’s great you can feel that small shift. I have found significant change in well being usually goes like that, very incrementally. But as the body and mind feel better, the more they want that new pattern.

That’s so interesting about walking in the rain. I have always loved doing that actually. As a kid I loved it if it rained on me walking home from school. I would jump in puddles as well just to get extra soaked 😂 I remember in 2013 doing a bit of a hike with two friends and getting absolutely drenched. It’s kind of exhilarating and you feel truly alive.

I’m so enjoying being here in this different town. The caravan park is by a river and just now I heard water birds making noises even thought it’s night time. Magpies were warbling at dusk. The autumn colours here a very beautiful with many deciduous trees. There are deep reds, bright reds, and oranges and yellows. I’m eating rice crackers with hommus at the moment because I only had soup for dinner and now I’ve got the munchies.

Croix, I’m guessing you probably get most benefit from getting wet and feeling it on your skin, though I imagine there still would be benefits even with an umbrella. But I think there’s something about being totally drenched that sort of enlivens and resets the body. It’s like an immersive experience.

Bye for now and hugs,

ER

[Paw Prints]

Hello Croix & ER,

Croix the benefit from being out in the rain comes from the negative ions released when the raindrops hit each other or splat against a surface, so I'm guessing it would still work if you use an umbrella as long as you were still close enough to the drops to be affected by the negative ions.  It did advise to find shelter if there was lightening around but it didn't say you need to get wet from the rain.  

It was an interesting article.  Apparently humans are more sensitive to the smell of rain than sharks are to the smell of blood.  The other 3 benefits from rain are from the rain clearing the air, not so interesting.  The measurable multiple beneficial effects related to how our bodies respond to the smells before, during & after rain & finally the sounds of rain & how it can help solidify or recall memories.

ER the autumn colours sound lovely, especially that there is the full spectrum of colours.  I'm guessing they could be lovely to photograph whether it be the whole tree or just a leaf.  

I jinxed myself & after saying how I've been getting up early for the last two weeks, today I overslept.  I've struggled all day which I wouldn't have expected from just one early morning missed.  It is giving me the incentive to try harder tomorrow with my getting up time.

OK I'm jealous of the WA folk... not only do they have Quokkas... now scientists have found they used to have Koalas with dimples... how adorable.  

Hugs 

Paws

[Croix]

Dear All~

Well I was out in the rain this evening after dark wrestling with a gate to lock it, I'm afraid any benefits of getting wet were overshadowed by the  cold and my physical difficulties.

One nice thing happened, I watched a wall which seemed to have a several bobbing heads shadows down at hte base, and I simply had no idea what they were. I looked round and say between me and a floodlight a procession of wallabies, all determined to go to some particular place, a lovely sight.

Croix

[Ggrand]

Hello Dear Paw Prints, Eagle Ray, Croix and everyone…..🤗♥️..

I read here a lot but find it hard to interrupt your beautiful conversations…but had to pop in today because I enjoy walking in the rain…not the winter 🥶 rain though….to cold but the summer/spring rain can be so refreshing and vitalising….the smell before the rain comes is also something I like along with the sound it makes when falling  on an iron roof…Thank you Paws for sharing your knowledge about the effects of rain on us humans…

I only wish it would rain out where I live, it been many months and most paddocks out here is are different shades of brown and grey….I did notice is the leaves on what I think are bush wattle trees have turned a brilliant red colour..

Hope you’re all doing okay and being kind to yourselves…

Hugs and love 🤗♥️.

Grandy..

[Eagle Ray]

Hello Paws, Croix and Grandy,

That is all so interesting Paws, that the negative ions, and the smell and sound of rain, have so much effect on us humans. It is an incentive to go out walking in rainy weather. It’s probably best like when you describe Grandy, when it’s not too cold. I think I remember you saying it gets pretty cold where you are in the winter. In the tropics a lot of rain can go through and it stays quite warm. But, yes, spring and autumn rain can be extra lovely. I’m glad you got to see the wallabies Croix. It would have been intriguing seeing their shadows first. 

I’m wide awake tonight, after 11pm here. I just went across to the ablution block in the dark here in the caravan park and on my way back the moon is shining between the gum trees. The water birds on the river continue to make sounds well into the night. It’s pretty cold out there. It got to 2 degrees here last night. There was lovely fog this morning.

I read about the koalas with dimples 🐨🥰 I wish they were still around. 

Grandy those trees turning red sound so lovely. Today I noticed that along with the reds, oranges and yellows in the autumn leaves there is also a rusty colour in some trees.

Well, I’ll try to sleep again now. I hope you’re all sleeping peacefully 😴

Hugs,

ER

[Paw Prints]

Hello Croix, Grandy & ER, waves 👋to anyone reading along.

Croix battling an unco-operative gate in the dark & cold while being rained on I think would negate any good from the negative ions.  Given how cold it has been here I'm thinking it must be freezing where you are.  

How lovely the wallabies weren't bothered by your presence, I did chuckle at the mental image of the bobbing shadows. 

Grandy I think you are right about the winter rain often being too cold to enjoy walking in.  There needs to be somewhere snug & warm at the end of the walk where you can change out of your wet things & thaw out.  I used to enjoy gardening in light rain or drizzle at any time of year, I found it refreshing & I could keep going for longer than I could on a warm day.

I hope you do get some of the rain that is coming through with this front.  The drought here has turned into a green drought with the few showers we have had recently.  Many paddocks are looking green, but there are no nutrients in the sparse grass & so the farmers here are still having to supplement feed.  At least what rain we have had holds the promise of more coming, it must be so sad still seeing no rain out your way.

ER I hope you are well rugged up or have heating in your accommodation  ❄❄🔥 2 deg is a bit nippy. 

Well I'm already yawning so I might have an earlier than early night.

Sleep well

Hugs

Paws

[Eagle Ray]

Hi Paws, Croix and Grandy,

I'm back in my town now so it's not so nippy, whereas the other place is inland and noticeably colder. But it did mean lovely mist rising on the river there each morning.

I'm probably going to be away from here a bit as dealing with extremely stressful circumstances that are going to take all my energy for some time ahead. So if I disappear that is why. 

I hope you are getting some lovely autumn weather, but also some rain as it sounds like it's really needed over there. It's beautifully sunny here today.

Hugs,

ER