Sunday Stroke Survival~ If All Else Fails -Punt

I've heard from so many about my ability or ingenuity in dealing with my stroke and life. Personally, I take no credit for it.

I glean information from all sorts of sites on the web to form my new ideas or ways to do things. I know what I want to do and know that I'm not the only one facing these issues. Somebody somewhere has to be talking about it. That is the truth. I spend hours in research and following tangled strings to form and rough working something to substitute for what I can't do.

That's not to say I'm not creative, because I am. I was looking out side the box when my #2 daughter was diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis way back in the early eighties. Not to many people knew that kids got it and so young. My daughter was 2 years old. She was facing a lifetime, until she would be 16 and not be considered a juvenile anymore, of physical therapy exercises that hurt twice a day, blood work every four weeks to check medicine levels and kidney function, multiple scans and x-rays, special diets, immunoboosters, and splints and braces. That was on top of regular kid stuff like Chicken Pox and school.

If something is fun then most people don't mind if it's something they have to do. Have you ever met a child that liked taking medicine four times a day, even if it's the orange flavored Children's aspirin. At two, she took a whole bottle of 30 tablets each and every day.There's only so much a kid or an adult will tolerate under normal conditions before they will revolt. I wrote nursery rhymes that went along with her physical therapy exercises in an attempt to make them more fun for her. It was more fun but still painful and boring in a ten year time frame.

I'm a firm believer in..."When all else fails PUNT!" Life isn't fair. Life is not some trouble-free zone. Stuff happens.

For me as a child, I never once asked to be put in harm's way. Neither did my parents. But stuff happens.

As an younger adult, I didn't ask for half of the things I went through. All right, I'll admit to setting myself up for some of it. Everyone makes poor decisions at some point in their life that sets themselves up for a tumble or three.

My father always says a cold is trying to catch him because nobody in their right mind would want to catch a cold. The same goes for most bad things that happen to "good" people.

Didn't you see me as a working minister, author, and full-time caregiver jumping up and down two years ago when a stroke was looking at who to strike next. "Ooh! Ooh! Pick me! Pick me! I can't wait to have a stroke of my very own!"

Yeah, right! You must be crazy!

But the fact is that I did have a stroke. I remember thinking the next morning, if I did have a stroke, I did something right because it wasn't that bad. But then it got worse. I progressed from weakness to paralysis. Yep, I was the idiot who was jumping up and down saying, "Pick me!" and it did.

Punting Away a Stroke
As the weeks and months progressed, my stubbornness kicked in. But there's only so many times you can make applesauce, lemonade, and punt...but I'm still punting. I'm up to my eyeballs in applesauce and have constantly puckered lips from all the lemonade. Still I continue to fight.

After all, A failure is only a failure if you let it be. If I try, fail, and give up then I'm a failure.

Can you really accept failure in your life? Are you this sad sack, who simply let's their failures pile up around them and say, "Woe is me."

How long can you keep that up before you try to figure out another way? I know some people in the real world who can stay in that position for years. Nothing is their fault. Not even a smidgen.  Everything bad happens to them and only them. I'll bet you can think of a few too. Can you stand to be around them for very long? Me neither. That just ain't me.

• Find a teeny tiny positive in your situation. Grab a hold to it and squeeze it for all you are worth. For me, it was being surrounded by caring people who could laugh and being able to laugh at myself.
• Find a bigger positive and repeat. Before long you've squeezed that into nothingness, so you begin to actively search for positive things to cling to because it feels so good. For me, if I wasn't dead then there was the hope of recovery or adaptation. Even though at times this was more of a curse than a blessing. Perception isn't always reality.
• Find a couple of positive things and keep searching. Before long you will be finding more than you can hold. For me, I was grabbing like a starving man at an all you can eat, free buffet.
• Nothing is ever ALL bad or ALL good. There's always the flip side. You just have to look for it. No, I'm not going to say the silver lining because there is no silver lining surviving a stroke other than surviving. It just is what it is.

So that's how I did it and doing it. If you really want to do something...do it. God gave you a brain too. Although not as intelligent, or as beautiful as mine. (batting my eyelashes at you) Oh, smile! You know you want to.

Nothing is impossible with determination.

Sunday Stroke Survival ~ Sailing Through Life with Disabilities

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Tuesday Tumbling Term ~ Determination

It's time for the term of the week for indie authors. This week's word is DETERMINATION.

de·ter·mi·na·tion
noun
1. the act of coming to a decision or of fixing or settling a purpose.
2. ascertainment, as after observation or investigation: determination of a ship's latitude.
3. the information ascertained; solution.
4. the settlement of a dispute, question, etc., as by authoritative decision.
5. the decision or settlement arrived at or pronounced.

Why is this important for any author especially the indie one?

Determination is essential to growing a thick skin that you'll need to wear...

• against doubters
• against critics
• against yourself
• to travel the path of one less and more traveled
• to be published even if it takes years or decades ...time

 When you announce to your family, circle of friends, or the world, there will be those that will think of you as a fool. They might never say it to your face, but it's there. The longer it takes to write, edit, and publish, the more this thought will manifest within them. They actually do not know how difficult writing and publishing is, or maybe they do. They just doubt your ability to see it through to the end. It will take determination to see it through.


When you publish a book, there will be critics. There always are. Whether the critics praise or slam your baby is up to them. All's you can do is wear your thickened skin through it. That takes determination to ride the wave and see it through.
 While you are writing, you are constantly in a battle with yourself. Am I a good enough writer? Am I ever going to finish writing this book? Will my tweaks attract and agent or publisher? I'm only fooling myself at thought of being a writer?

The picture is fairly accurate, isn't it? Self doubt is the biggest killer of determination. Set your mind on the finish line. Many people think about writing a book. Some even start writing a book. Only a few will finish writing a book, let alone publish it. It takes determination to reach the finish line and see it through.

A few years ago, self publishing or indie publishing was a taboo subject for any serious author. I know because I was one of them. It takes a lot of know how, finesse, or outsourcing to make it in the indie world. Longevity becomes a key operating. You will not be successful overnight. Savvy marketing, niches, angles become selling tools you will use. It will take determination on your part to see it through.

That ties in nicely with my last point...time. Okay, maybe a few hundred people know you've written a book. How is that expanded to thousands and millions? It takes time. Even with the standard presses, they will seriously push your book for a limited time for about 5% of their author base. The rest is up to you. As an indie you gave to do all the pushing, not shoving, yourself. You will have to push against cracks in the doors of independent booksellers. You will have to push yourself to make everyone know who you are as a writer. You have to push yourself to advertise. It takes determination.

Do you have determination on your side?

Keep writing and loving the Lord.

Monday Mailbox ~ Nothing is Impossible

It's time again to answer your questions. This one is a carry over from several blogs the emailer discusses. This will also be copied in part on my ministry blog, Pastor Jo Says. I love a good, thought provoking debate and this one has been going on between BR and I for a month now.

You say nothing is impossible with determination and your momma's saying do or do not, it's a personal choice... I say somethings are impossible. BR

My response...
BR,
I believe that nothing is impossible with determination. That is the basis of my life. I have overcome some pretty, awful things in my life, but thinking outside the box and the will to do whatever it took to accomplish the goal. Whether it meant going without sleep, juggling schedules like a mad woman, many sacrifices along the way, or even admitting I can't do it right now.

My momma always said you have a choice to do or don't. Basically, it's true. We make multiple decisions to do or don't during the day. Some are minor dos and don'ts and some are major. But it is always our choice. Granted sometimes choices are thrust upon us and there is no choice. No other logical choice, but again this is an educated choice where we weigh options even if there is no other option to balance the equation.

I always loved writing. Publishing not so much, but others were interested in what I had to say or it would help others so I published. When doctors told me I'd never walk unassisted, my response was watch me. I had children that depended on me and a life to get back to.

Now nothing is truly the way it was after an event. How could it be? Our lives are molded and created by the events that happened previously. We as human beings adapt, learn, and go on. That's where the determination comes in. The will to persevere despite to odds. To make changes to our lifestyles and go on.

Everything in life is about adaptation to choices I make good or bad. My future depends on the choices I make today. Can I accept defeat? Yep, I can, but not without continuing to try to do what my goal is. I'll admit that something the mountain is huge cliffs that seem insurmountable. But if you look closer there are chinks in that cliff that you mat get a finger or toe hold in it to move upwards. I'll take that little chink over smooth glass anytime.

So do you believe in nothing is impossible 

with determination?

Keep writing and loving the Lord.