Decisions, decisions...

I was speaking to a veteran lupie last week, mainly asking all of those questions that someone newly diagnosed will ask. I am, after all, a newbie to the lupus world, having only been diagnosed in July.

Anyway, one of the things we discussed included coping strategies and general attitudes. We are pretty similar, both having to give up uni several times and make adjustments to long-term career plans, but we both agreed that there is a right way and a wrong way to cope. We could lie in a corner and let life pass us by, or, the one we've chosen to do, go out there and live.

I'm not saying that that's the easy option, but it's right for both of us. I could very easily curl up, refuse to get out of bed, whine and moan all day every day, and generally be a right pain in the ass. But where does that get me? It'll only make the lupus worse thanks to muscle wasting, it'll definitely send me into a fibro-flare, I'll get lonely and depressed, I'll dwell on the fact that life is hard, and I'll annoy everyone around me. What good will that do me! Instead, I've decided that I should go out and take life by the testes.

It is hard, especially on a day like today when I've gone and gotten a cold, done far to much and somehow managed to forget to wear sunblock on a cloudless day. I know that days like today are blips and thankfully it's now pretty rare that I do get bad days. Today, there's nothing more I'd love to do than going out and taking some photos of the changing leaves. I'd love to be able to go and buy those boots I saw a few weeks ago. I'd love to fly my kite. I'd love to go for a walk to spend time with God. But do I sit and complain that I can't do that today? Nope!

I adapt and reevaluate instead. I know that it'd be pointless going to fly my kite, go for a walk or take some photos. There's no clouds. At all. I'm already suffering from forgetting my sunblock on a sunny day last week (d'oh!) and I know enough by now to know I'm not doing that again any time soon. I know that I'm going into town on Friday, so what's the point in going twice in one week? If all else fails, I've found the boots online for a similar price. I know that there'll be other opportunities to take photos, the leaves haven't fallen yet, there's still time. It's still everything on my list, but I'm doing it in such a way that looks after myself.

I think that's the best decision I've made all day.