A new year list for healing from Lyme
// Filed in: Lyme Disease
Setting new goals and dreaming new dreams can happen at any time. In January, though, you can almost feel a collective buzz as so many people set goals and re-evaluate past aims. If you are healing from Lyme, how does goal-setting work?
I can't remember having the consciousness to set many goals when I was really sick. It was enough to remember to take which medicine when. I used to joke that with my Lyme-brain fuzz head, tracking those meds and supplements had become my full-time job. The little notebooks I kept were my external memory drive. I could not have gotten through it without some sort of system.
New goals can seem very big and abstract. A lot of people want to work on changes in their job status, their weight, or aim for a vacation destination or specific financial goal. People dealing with Lyme often feel their world's been shrunken to the size of a thimble though. New goals any bigger than keeping track of your daily routines can be overwhelming. Still, if you're in the mood for taking a bigger picture approach, writing down your desired goals can be really healthy. It can also be healing just to reflect on last year's goals in relation to where you are today. How has your situation changed since last New Year?
Here are two ideas to try, to kickstart your new year of intentions on the healing path.
Make a gratitude list
Perhaps you already do this on a regular basis. If so, good for you. This simple act, done every night before bedtime, can be one of the most transformational things you could ever do for yourself. You can make it as general or detailed as you want, but try to be specific as you write, and really visualize the faces of the people that you're thankful for, or the doctors or nurses, children, parents or friends who showed up at your side during the worst of days. Name them all and send each one a special prayer of thanks as you do.
Name your furry kids, too. Our pets are unconditional givers. My sweet kitty, who was always by my side during my roughest months and years, recently died at age 13. I grieved for her, and also cried tears of gratitude for all the love, affection, and moments of wonder and laughter she gave so naturally throughout her life. Her passing marks a new point in my own healing stage. It was as if she came to be with me especially as I got through Lyme.
Make 12 new monthly goals
You don't have to reach the moon every four weeks. Take baby steps, and you can always adjust your monthly goals as you go along. Last year I decided to give up gluten for awhile and see how it affected me. The first thing I noticed was that there were no more sandwiches in my future. I adjusted that goal a little and things turned out fine for me.
Relinquishment goals such as that can be valuable of course, but include positive goals too. Consider how you might parse the 12 months of this new year. You could go by the seasons, or some other way that strikes you as important. Are your first three months going to focus on getting better treatment or changing doctors? Maybe your second three months could be about integrating a healthier diet and exercise routine into your schedule. One set of three might be focused on personal/cognitive skills such as starting some new brain exercise games, then you might think about making goals around who you'd really like to attract as your mentors and buddies – your healing community.
Whether or not you set goals for the new year, we wish you much love and rigorous good health as you make progress in healing from Lyme.
I can't remember having the consciousness to set many goals when I was really sick. It was enough to remember to take which medicine when. I used to joke that with my Lyme-brain fuzz head, tracking those meds and supplements had become my full-time job. The little notebooks I kept were my external memory drive. I could not have gotten through it without some sort of system.
New goals can seem very big and abstract. A lot of people want to work on changes in their job status, their weight, or aim for a vacation destination or specific financial goal. People dealing with Lyme often feel their world's been shrunken to the size of a thimble though. New goals any bigger than keeping track of your daily routines can be overwhelming. Still, if you're in the mood for taking a bigger picture approach, writing down your desired goals can be really healthy. It can also be healing just to reflect on last year's goals in relation to where you are today. How has your situation changed since last New Year?
Here are two ideas to try, to kickstart your new year of intentions on the healing path.
Make a gratitude list
Perhaps you already do this on a regular basis. If so, good for you. This simple act, done every night before bedtime, can be one of the most transformational things you could ever do for yourself. You can make it as general or detailed as you want, but try to be specific as you write, and really visualize the faces of the people that you're thankful for, or the doctors or nurses, children, parents or friends who showed up at your side during the worst of days. Name them all and send each one a special prayer of thanks as you do.
Name your furry kids, too. Our pets are unconditional givers. My sweet kitty, who was always by my side during my roughest months and years, recently died at age 13. I grieved for her, and also cried tears of gratitude for all the love, affection, and moments of wonder and laughter she gave so naturally throughout her life. Her passing marks a new point in my own healing stage. It was as if she came to be with me especially as I got through Lyme.
Make 12 new monthly goals
You don't have to reach the moon every four weeks. Take baby steps, and you can always adjust your monthly goals as you go along. Last year I decided to give up gluten for awhile and see how it affected me. The first thing I noticed was that there were no more sandwiches in my future. I adjusted that goal a little and things turned out fine for me.
Relinquishment goals such as that can be valuable of course, but include positive goals too. Consider how you might parse the 12 months of this new year. You could go by the seasons, or some other way that strikes you as important. Are your first three months going to focus on getting better treatment or changing doctors? Maybe your second three months could be about integrating a healthier diet and exercise routine into your schedule. One set of three might be focused on personal/cognitive skills such as starting some new brain exercise games, then you might think about making goals around who you'd really like to attract as your mentors and buddies – your healing community.
Whether or not you set goals for the new year, we wish you much love and rigorous good health as you make progress in healing from Lyme.
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