Week Nineteen Friday’s Grateful List 

Posted on October 30, 2015 by admin

Today I am grateful for my beautiful hairdresser Lisa from Purple Daze. Not only is she a great hairdresser but she is also a beautiful girl. I was at the hairdresser yesterday and when she asked me how I was I burst into tears. I felt very silly but she gave me a hug and did my hair and chatted. By the end of my appointment I was smiling ,felt good, had listened to all the chatter in the hairdresser about Melbourne Cup ( I was considering not going to the lovely Melbourne Cup lunch I had replied to because I felt miserable) and I had decided to frock up on Tuesday and have fun with my girlfriends! 

  
  
Today I am grateful for our fun cheap shop called What’s Hot in the Gap. Yesterday I bought a great spiders web and a beautiful owl that even has flashing lights to go at our door for Hallloween. I even remembered to buy treats for anyone who comes to our door. We live on acreage and if the kids make the trek up our stairs they are really disappointed if I don’t have anything for them ( I know this from previous experience). So even though I am not mad on Halloween I have got a little into the spirit this year. Luckily I have got a sore arm so I can’t carve a pumpkin……( they were in the supermarket yesterday and Lucy suggested it).   

 Today I am grateful for our spa. I managed to get in and out of it this morning on my own and I did my exercises in it. 

Today I am grateful for the beautiful walk Lucy and I did around the The Gap Reservoir near Walkabout Creek. It was a 5km walk around the waters edge and it was beautiful.

  
Today I am grateful for our great coffee shop in the Gap called The Lodge. It does super yummy food and coffee. 

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Week Nineteen Thursday’s Grateful List 

Posted on October 29, 2015 by admin

Today I am grateful for my support team. I know I have said this before but I just think it is so important. I am really struggling with my frozen shoulder but I am determined that it won’t get the better of me. I have spent this week thinking about my next plan of attack. 

  
I am grateful that I have a great orthopaedic surgeon. Scott Fairbarn is  his name. I will go back and see him next week and I will have lots of questions. I don’t like the amount of pain relief I am taking and the fact that I am taking sleeping tablets to sleep ( even though I am grateful I am getting sleep). I know I have to live with the discomfort for a while but I want to be proactive and have a painful frozen shoulder for the least possible time. I will be asking him about the value of acupuncture, Bowen therapy, physiotherapists who specialize in shoulders ( even though mine is very good) and the option of a hydrocortisone injection.

I am grateful that I have access to other therapies. For example many years ago I used to float in a float tank for relaxation. I have found somewhere in Brisbane to go on the weekend. I figure an hour of deep relaxation can’t do any harm and it might help. 

  
I am grateful I have a sensible husband to talk to and who encourages me to do my exercises.

I am grateful I have a knowledgeable Dad who I can bounce ideas off and will give very sensible reasoned advice. 

I am grateful for my kids who are fantastic and continue to help out by doing things around the house, being considerate( one of them heats my hot pack every night) and reminding me how special life is! 

I am grateful for all my family and friends who continue to call and message and who make me feel very loved.

I am grateful I have a good psychologist who has given me a great plan to use when I am ready to get on my bike.

I am grateful for the unconditional love of my dogs. 

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Week Nineteen Wednesday’s Grateful List 

Posted on October 27, 2015 by admin

Today I am grateful for my beautiful husband David. We had a weekend away at Kingscliff last weekend and talked and laughed and had fun.

I am grateful that David has taken on so many things in the last few months. He has cooked, shopped, ironed, driven the children places and generally taken on a lot of the role that I usually have in our partnership. I worry that I am redundant and that David does a better job than I do but I am grateful that it gives me the opportunity to continue to rest and heal. 

I am grateful for the time David has spent with my parents. They have needed some advice about their retirement and how to go forward in the years ahead of them. We have a family who all live to older than ninety so hopefully they will be around for a long while and be able to manage independently for that time. 

I am grateful that David is back on his bike and training again. I get nervous when he goes out and I also get jealous that he is out there and I am not but I am still grateful that he is out staying fit and healthy and has a constructive outlet for his stress.

I am grateful that David is walking regularly with me. Some mornings David doesn’t go riding and we walk together. It is so much easier to walk with someone. I know David enjoys the quieter pace of walking and appreciates that we are out there doing it together. 

I am grateful David makes me laugh. David regularly says and does things that makes me laugh so hard that I cry. 

I am just grateful for David. I know David is driven human being. It is why he is so successful and why we as a family have been able to lead the amazing life we have. He is however kind, compassionate, loving, gentle and very very focused on caring for all his family in a very special way. 

  

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 Week Nineteen Tuesday’s Grateful List 

Posted on October 27, 2015 by admin

Today I am grateful for being alive and for how far I have come since the accident. I write a grateful list everyday and have done for quite a few years. When I had my accident and damaged my left arm I couldn’t record my grateful list in my journal so I have recorded my grateful list as a blog post everyday.  I have tried to be very honest but what I am really doing is practicing to be happy. It is unrealistic  for anyone to think they can be happy all the time. 

I like these two quotes and think they are both appropriate to life:

“There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so”(Hamlet) and 

“Tragedy in inevitable, misery is not”(Unknown).

I believe writing a grateful list makes me not only appreciate the wonderful things in my day but forces me to reframe the not so wonderful things and practice definetly makes that an easier concept to master.  

 I wrote a few days ago about what I was not grateful about in relation to my accident. Yesterday I wrote that even though I had stuff that wasn’t going quite to plan I could still be grateful. When I read that post back I actually thought I sounded miserable and ungrateful. So today I am going to reflect about how far I have come in the last four months. I am going to reframe those thoughts from yesterday and actually document just how far I have come since June 7th. As well as practicing gratitude I also try very hard to practise living in the moment. This process of reviewing how far I have come although looking back at the past hopefully will help me to appreciate this present moment more fully and allow me to be a bit more gentle towards myself because I recognize that I have actually come a long way. 

So ……

I am able to walk 6km non stop. I started walking in hospital but back then could only manage a few laps of the ward. 

I know I want to cycle again. 

I am eating a normal diet and loving it! Food tastes so good and I love eating nutritious whole fresh food. When the accident first happened I was nauseous and didn’t enjoy eating at all.

I have no bandages, slings or stitches. All my physical wounds have healed.

My scars are very neat and will eventually be just two fine lines. 

I can kneel on the floor. After the accident I had a very sore knee and I couldn’t kneel.

I am driving.

I can iron, put the washing on, sweep, unload and reload the dishwasher and clean up my home. 

I can shower and dress myself.

I can read a book.

I have become a better blogger. 

I have become quite adept at using different applications on my iPad. 

I have very little abdominal pain and my rib pain is much much better. My arm fracture is stable, plated and healing.

I can fly in a plane. 

I can sit comfortably for quite a while. 

I can tie my own shoelaces.

I am stable enough on my feet to wear and walk in high heeled shoes. 

I don’t sleep all day. I only have a small rest in the afternoon.

I can write a little with my left hand.

I can wash my hair with both hands. 

I am planning, shopping for and generally preparing our meals.

I can get in and out of our spa and enjoy the warm water.

I am back to my normal weight.

I have gone from just healing to now putting energy into rehabilitation and recovery. 

I look and feel better. 

So when I review how far I have come it is a long way!  
 
 

  
And my final thought for today is thanks to a man named Paul Boynton – 

  

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Week Nineteen Monday’s Grateful blog. 

Posted on October 25, 2015 by admin

I am writing a bit of a different list today. I feel I should be back to normal by now but I am not. I still have things that are hard for me. Today I am going to write about those things but I am going to try and put a positive spin on them. Tomorrow I will get back to normal grateful blogging.

  
Today I have a frozen shoulder. It is very sore and it is affecting my sleep. My physio tells me it will take six to twelve months to get back to normal. It is not injured it has just got this way because I have had four months of very limited mobility in that arm. I am grateful that I have an arm to be sore and I am grateful that even though my shoulder is sore I can still hold my husband’s hand. 

  
Today I am having much more trouble sleeping because of the discomfort in my shoulder. I am however very grateful that there is such a thing as sleeping tablets and that I am finding them so effective. I am also grateful that I have a beautiful comfortable bed to sleep in. 

  
Today I have a sore back. It is sore on the lower right hand side. Today I am grateful that I am able to walk and that my injuries have never prevented me from walking. My sore back is like a little reminder to slow down and take things quietly. 

  
Today I am disappointed that I am not studying at the moment and I still don’t have great concentration so I don’t think I will go back to study until midway through next year. I am so grateful though for wonderful books. I am reading so much because I have time. I forgot how much I love escaping into the magic or tragedy of a story. 

  
Today I am sad that this accident happened to me. I am grateful however that it has slowed me down. I am grateful that I think because I am doing things more slowly I listen more carefully and see more beauty.  I also work much harder at being less judgemental of people and more forgiving. I believe connection and compassion for our fellow human beings is what makes being human so amazing. 

  
A friend sent me these thoughts last week about learning to be gentle with yourself. I think I need to recognize that I am in a different spot in my recovery than where I want to be or expected to be. I need to be gentle with myself today and I encourage you if you are reading this to do the same. Here is what my friend sent me:

Recipe for developing gentleness …….

i. Put both hands on your heart, belly or face. 

ii. Breath deeply in and out three times. 

ii. Speak these words to yourself, out loud or silently in a warm tone. 

I’m feeling [insert feeling] right now 

This is part of being human 

May I be gentle and kind towards myself 

May I fully accept myself as I am  

Digest. Smile. Repeat. 

I am working hard at living and loving with my whole heart and I encourage you to do the same. I am trying hard just to be real .  

 

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Week Eighteen Thursday’s Grateful List 

Posted on October 21, 2015 by admin

Today I am grateful for living in Brisbane. Yesterday I was walking along the river with my friend Deb. Today I was walking in the bush with my daughter Lucy.

  

  
Today I am grateful for the wonderful chats Lucy and I have when walking. This morning I said to Lucy I would love to be able to hear the birds but my breathing is too loud. She replied – Mum loud breathing is better than no breathing! 

Today I am grateful for the lovely lunch I shared with my old school friend Sarah. It was so lovely to catch up. She had cooked the most delicious lunch. We could have talked for hours and hours.

Today I am grateful for writing about why I love bike riding. It helped to get my thoughts sorted out in my head.  I am missing riding so much but I am really not sure whether I am going to be able to get back on my bike without a lot of anxiety. After writing that post I know I will eventually ride again but I am not quite ready to ride my road bike. I do not want to ride a bike on a windtrainer just yet because that will only reinforce that I am not out enjoying the open air with my friends. Maybe you will see me on a retro bike with a basket soon……

I would like a bike like this – 

  
And I would like to look like this – 

  
Today I am grateful for dreaming …..

Today I am grateful for taking things slowly. I miss so much when I am busy. This week I have realized what a beautiful home I live in, what a special city Brisbane is and what amazing friends and family I have. Sometimes I forget to appreciate the everyday stuff. 

   

  

  
   

 

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Why I love Riding my Bike. 

Posted on October 20, 2015 by admin

  

I love riding a bike because 

  • I get up in the morning and I get to see the most beautiful part of the day. The sun coming up.
  • I share my ride with people who feel the same way I do about life.
  • I think riding my bike is fun and challenging at the same time.
  • I first started riding a bike 7 years ago. I fell off and fell off and fell off. I had such a sense of achievement and was so proud of myself when I managed to remain upright on a ride.
  • It was often the slowest and most uncoordinated rider in the group. It was a wonderful feeling when I could keep up with my fellow riders and enjoy the ride.
  • I have always chosen to ride with people who are supportive and fun. It is great to go out and do a 40km or 50 km ride and share the friendship and fun with other like minded people.
  • I can remember the first time I rode 100km. I did it with an amazing man called Freddy Morini who had been a professional bike rider. He was so supportive and never let me stop believing that such a distance was possible. I can remember the feeling of awe of myself that I had been able to ride such a huge distance. 
  • We all wear Lycra when we ride. I know many people make fun of us. We are all different shapes and sizes. Apart from being the most comfortable attire for riding a bike in we all look pretty similar. No one really knows what you look like in your everyday life when you first start riding. Riders share a common respect for each other that can sometimes be missing when individuals judge each other by the clothes you wear.
  • I love the fact that the people I ride with don’t leave me behind. I love the fact that I have been encouraged and supported to get faster and stronger.
  • I love the fact that when I have got faster and stronger that I have been able to offer that same support to others that come into the group that are slower and nervous just like I have been.
  • I love the sense of achievement when I climb any hill.
  • I love the sense of achievement when I train and climb a harder hill.
  • I love being taught things about how to be a better and safer rider.
  • I love teaching others about how to be a better and safer rider.
  • I love that there is always something new to learn.
  • I love that there is always something harder to conquer.
  • I love the fact that even though I get scared of doing things when I ride I still do them.
  • I love the fact that I can show my children that even when you are scared that you can still achieve amazing things. I did the Noosa 160km ride a few years ago. I trained really hard with a great group of people. Even though I had done the training I had so much self doubt about achieving the distance. I was amazed and thrilled when I finished. Not only did I show myself what was possible but I think I was a great role model for my kids.
  • I have seen amazing sites including Brisbane, Adelaide and Provence.
  • I love the fact that when you ride a bicycle you talk. Often people share their troubles and their joys. I feel privileged to share these conversations with people.
  • I love the feeling of speed. You don’t get the same feeling walking or even running. 
  • I love the taste of food at the end of a hard ride. Not only does the food often taste delicious but I know I have often earned the meal and I am refueling and building up my body ready for the next time I ride.
  • I love that riding does not hurt your joints as much as running. 
  • I love that I can be in the city at the beginning of a ride and get to see the ocean or a mountain or both during the ride.
  • I love that my husband and I can share our experiences about riding. 
  • I love that I  see and  appreciate things that I wouldn’t see driving a car like a pretty flower or the smell of freshly mown grass. 
  • I love just riding my bike. 

I am grateful I have had the privilege to ride a bike and I hope I have the opportunity to ride a bike again soon. 

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Week Eighteen Monday’s Grateful List 

Posted on October 19, 2015 by admin

Today I am grateful that I have had such a busy weekend. I am paying for it today but that is ok. 

This is me today – 

  
Today I am grateful for friends. It has been more than eighteen weeks since my accident and I am still getting lovely messages of support from all my friends. Thank you.  

 Today I am grateful for beautiful shoes. I wore a high heeled pair of shoes on Saturday night. It was the first time since the accident that I have been brave enough to wear high heels. I have not felt stable enough to wear anything but flats up until now. I changed into flats by the end of the night but so did many others I discovered. 

   
 Today I am grateful for pajama days. It is 11am and I am still in my pjs. 

  
Today I am grateful for old photographs. I am a person who loves printing my photos. I have many photo albums filled with fond memories. I have also done photo books of quite a few of our trips. I love getting them out and reminiscing. I don’t get the same enjoyment looking at photos on my computer as looking at a hard copy. 

  

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Week Seventeen Saturday’s Grateful List 

Posted on October 17, 2015 by admin

Today I am grateful for all things beautiful. 

I am grateful for beautiful clothes. My favourite places to shop are  Petrol Clothing, Birdsnest, and  Hummingbird. 

I am grateful for beautiful home wares. I went to a workshop about Christmas decorating last night. It was in a beautiful shop at James Street, Fortitude Valley called Magnolia. Robyn McKendry the owner does beautiful interiors and has a very special shop full of beautiful things. 

  
 I am grateful for beautiful flowers. I have beautiful flowers in my garden but I also appreciate people who can arrange flowers beautifully. The florist at the workshop last night does beautiful arrangements. Her name is Anneliese and her business is Hacienda Flowers. 

  
I am grateful for beautiful food. I follow The Urban List Brisbane to find recommendations for the best restaurants in Brisbane ( they also have The Urban List Sydney and Melbourne). 

I am grateful for beautiful friends. We all need a group of people who love and support us. The team of people around me which includes friends and family are amazing! 

  
  

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Week Seventeen Thursday’s Grateful List 

Posted on October 14, 2015 by admin

I know I haven’t blogged for the last few days. I am getting closer to using my left hand but I am still not quite there yet. I was going to stop posting my blogs but I have decided that I am going to continue for a little while longer. So….

Today I am grateful to be able to stop and enjoy moments during the day. Lucy and I walked together on Tuesday and stopped for a swing. The girls and I went to the movies on a school night this week. What fun! 

  
Today I am grateful for my friend Kylie Torrens. We went shopping for a ball gown for her yesterday and it was such fun. Hooray for friends and shopping. 

  
Today I am grateful for all my beautiful roses. They are spectacular. 

  
  

   
 Today I am grateful that my friend Nicole Cody is home recuperating. Nicole is a school friend of mine and she suffers from Lyme Disease. She has a wonderful blog called Cupcakes and Cauldrons which records her journey of life plus lots of other things like recipes, meditations and living life to the fullest. 

Today I am grateful for David. I have been a bit grumpy lately. David has been very patient and loving.  

 

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