April 27th

A lot more energy in recent days, finally I feel like I am back to my normal, energetic self from a couple of months back. I had a couple of weeks when nothing really happened, when I wasn’t really doing anything outside the home-work-mom circle. I wasn’t even going out to do any of the things I knew I had to do. It was all just a talk and wishful thinking. I decided to go to the basics I learned in therapy — and that is making a list. I put down all the things I want to do in the next month, put down dates, how I want to do it, how much it will cost, and started making phone calls and writing emails.

Immediately I had so much more energy in me. I was thinking about particular things, how I combine them with my work and family time. Of course, I know I don’t want to overextend myself, that can lead to tiredness and that is my huge trigger issue. My list is combined with a calendar so I can easily see by day, by week what I have planned and how much time each task will require. This way I can move up and down my planned activities and make sure there is not too much each day or each week to do. I also keep a lot of time for rest and my private time. I am pretty happy with the result and I know it will help me with my recovery. That jolt of energy coming from planning and starting doing stuff (even if that is mostly pedestrian, mundane stuff) is exactly what I needed.

As to plan itself, there is a partial list of what I will do in the upcoming weeks:

• Tomorrow I will finalize my car registration and then will arrange for timing belt replacement and some other check up on my car.
• On Thursday I have an appointment with an optometrist and will start the process of finding and buying new glasses (for everyday use and for work) — which is a big deal for me and my image.
• On the 6th of May, I have an appointment with the dentist and will continue my dental work.
• On the 11th of May, I have an appointment for the Pfizer vaccine.
• Have arranged for a rental of a waste container in two weeks and will get rid of most of the stuff from my outbuilding.
• In the middle of May, I will start the process of getting new passports

And that will be plenty for one month. And making a list like that is something that I will continue doing for the upcoming months as well.

Again — I need to thank my therapist for that, she knows how to direct me onto the right path to feeling better and staying happy and content with my recovery.