A Chronic Voice: October Link-Up

Hi all! It’s that time of the month again where I join Sheryl from A Chronic Voice ‘s Link-Up. The October Link-Up focuses on the following themes;

• Budgeting
• Speeding
• Slowing
• Evaluating
• Escaping

Budgeting

When I think of budgeting, I think of it in terms of both energy and money. Financially, even if you don’t particularly budget, it’s always good to keep a decent overview of your income and outgoings. I have set amounts for things per month such as bills, mortgage payment, food and an ideal amount I try to save. Then I try to allocate a little for for doing things for me, like a massage or clothes. It helps me feel more in control and avoids nasty end of the month surprises!

Energy budgeting is just as important for those with health issues. When your energy is limited, you have to learn to spend it wisely. Lots of people like the spoonie theory- I prefer the broken battery analogy but the premise is the same. Some activities cost more energy than others and working out what is vital to get done can really help with budgeting.

Speeding

Sometimes life seems to have a mind of its own and goes racing away. It can leave you feeling pretty lost. I’ve felt a lot that way recently with being in bed awaiting surgery and life speeding on past me.

In these moments, I try to reassure myself that it’s okay not to have total control of life. I work out the little things I can still do that give me a small amount of control over my day and try to breathe and make peace with the fact I can’t always keep up.

Slowing

I’m not great at pacing and have a strong tendency to burn out with trying to do too much so it’s vital I remember to slow down and take a break. Call it self care or maintenance, but we all need to slow down and take a moment to think what’s happening.

Whether you stop and have a read or a bath or simply stop for 2 minutes to breathe, is all important. I make use of the Relax Melodies app for meditation help and also recommend Headspace for short relaxation sessions.

Evaluating

One thing i’ve had a lot of lately is time. I’m prone to self analysing like a lot of us are and tend to over analyse a lot. I think the more free time I have, the more I do it, even though there’s less to analyse!

When you’re dealing with long term illness you’re always looking for new ways to be better, how you could do something different which might affect your life for the good. I find myself evaluating everything I’ve done in the day and think has x made me feel like y and it’s exhausting! Over evaluating your day isn’t generally very helpful, trying to go with the flow tends to be a heck of a lot healthier.

Escaping

Who doesn’t love escaping right? We’ve all got so many responsibilities to others, to ourselves, sometimes it’s great to just step back. My main escaping is always into fantasy novels and video games. Anything with a different world I can sink in to and I’m down.

What’s important to remember is balance. Yes it’s great to escape and let go for a while but do it too much and real life will build up or get disconnected. I’ve definitely got the balance wrong before and then felt really out of it. I’ve also made some of my best friends though my favourite forms of escapism like gaming and cosplaying so no regrets on that one!

These October Link-Up topics have been great to work through. Thanks as always to A Chronic Voice! You can read September’s Link Up Here

If you’ve posted a respond to the link up too, I’d love to read it!

Laters,

Ruthy xo

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