Tip #62 Patience Patients; I Am Only One, But...

     Yesterday I wrote a (very long:)) post called Choosing Cheer; Your Energy, Your Choice. I wanted to help free people from feeling so overwhelmed while trying to maintain all they do and have done in life, but now must also do in the face of illness and its effects. I suggested that people work hard at trying to balance the process of recovery with the process of living a full, meaningful, good life. It's a tough job - a huge job - to get that perfect balance!  It reminds me a bit of being a child and sitting on one end of the teeter-totter. Unless both sides were carefully balanced, the prize of having 2 people with their feet dangling in the air at both ends at the same time was not easy to attain. But it sure was great when we were able to get that balance!

     I also know that the energy required to achieve that balance may be hard to find while you are in the recovery process. And, it is a big adjustment to work (aka summon up the energy) within limits that have not been there for our whole lives, but are very real in this phase of life. However, refusing to work within said limits doesn't get anyone very far, and not only hurts you but those you love that are walking this journey with you. Try to be patient in the process - the payoff is worth it. As I was contemplating this again last night, I remembered a poem I read when I was a child that has always stuck with me. I think it describes the ideal balance of life and recovery in a beautiful way.  Happy feet-dangling!

I am only one, 

but still I am one.  

I cannot do everything, 

but I can do something.  

And, because I cannot do everything, 

I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.  

-Edward Everett Hale