This is my 257th blog post – with 4 drafts – and what is more amazing are the 102 followers I now have. That is so amazing! I was so pleased with 25 followers and now it is 4 times that amount. I am very grateful for all of my followers, I appreciate the comments and to know there are people who are interested in my blog.
On the slight downside, I was getting a lot more spam, but I know they just want me to approve their comment so it will show up in better stats for them. It all gets deleted, so they have wasted all that time and energy for nothing. Recently it has slowed down to only a few at a time – I am not interested in house appraisals and inspections in Maryland, any more than all the ones from people selling cars. Give me a break! I don’t write anything about any of those.
As I look back over all the posts since February 2010, I started out with mostly writing about RA; then wrote at times about Ike Pono and what I was learning about myself. Later on I wrote about my Mom and dealing with dementia and about some things going on that have nothing to do with any of the other things. Yet, all of it affects RA and my state of mind; how can it not? I also have learned that it is important to find the funny side of things – if I don’t laugh about it, I go nuts.
I started thinking about all the years I have had RA, all the drugs, tests, studies, procedures I have had. When I am in the situation, odd thoughts come to me that are a bit funny. It isn’t as though I sat there and said to myself “What’s funny here? or what does this remind me of in the past?”. Things just came to me. The times I have been in the hospital, I would keep a pad with me to write down my experiences. I wrote a journal for several years and I had requests to be put on my list to send it to them. I realized that writing helps clear things out, help me see things a bit more clearly and there is something that compels me to write things down.
Before I came back to Seattle to live, I traveled a lot with my husband and also by myself. I would keep my journal going and at one point, I started recording it on a cassette tape. I found someone to type those tapes out for me – when I read the typed piece, I realized I had left out things. I may have been a little more conscious of editing because I knew someone else would see it. People used to tell me I had such an interesting life – reading my journals didn’t have the times of pain, depression, frustration, etc. I had at the time. I didn’t whinge because I was tired enough of it myself, I didn’t want to write about it. Besides, who wants to read that?
When I started this blog, one thing that was important to me was not to whinge (moan and complain) because I wanted this to be a positive blog. I’ve read other RA blogs and they tend to talk more about how they are feeling, what isn’t working, what is – I wanted to have more ideas and solutions. I know this kind of blogs work for some and I am glad they do. It’s just me. I started with the Connecticut Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation doing a support group. When I was having problems, it was good to have other people understand. But it felt too focused on me and how I felt, I wanted to do more with people and turn outward than continually inward.
I was asked to be the Speaker’s Bureau Coordinator and later a Self Help Course instructor and trainer. I really enjoyed those because I interacted with people, found confidence in speaking before people and seeing something positive happening. I usually talked about the basic fact of Arthritis – like all things, it was personal rather than just cut and dried facts. When there wasn’t a lot of time, my stories were the first to go. I received so much positive feedback and it made me feel so good when someone told me I had helped them so much. I had felt things were just negative about having RA, here was such an opposite view that surprised and pleased me.
It has not only been with the Arthritis Foundation this has happened. I have had several people tell me I am their hero. WOW! I was and am just being me, yet something spoke to them. I often wonder how many I have helped and will never know about it – but I have decided it doesn’t matter, I’m not supposed to know. I think we all inspire people as we go along our daily life without knowing it. To me, that is when we are most effective. I used to think if somebody didn’t mention it, no one noticed what was happening. But I would remember how many times I noticed something but didn’t say anything to the person.
So, to all my followers, you are the best and I truly appreciate each and every one of you.
Gift of RA 