Just Keep Swimming...

To quote a famous blue fish! Dory's little song on Finding Nemo, "when life gets you down, just keep swimming, just keep swimming..." quickly became a favorite of ours when we first saw the movie. At that time, I typed up the phrase and made a bunch of copies, cut them out and taped them all over the place. It seemed the simplest, most sound advice possible for someone of my temperament (prone to sprinting through life, then resting for long periods, then pushing hard again). I would ride the waves of emotion to the extreme, then crash exhausted. I began to pray for the ability to run the distance and persevere through life's ups and downs. It just didn't come naturally to me.

As it says in a song from Fiddler on the Roof, "Our great men have written words of wisdom to be used when hardship must be faced...life obliges us with hardship so the words of wisdom shouldn't go to waste!" So, yes, life obliges us with hardship so that we can learn and practice perseverance.

Just keep swimming.

Thank you to my big sister for this Nemo...or Nemo's dad...or maybe just a clown fish, but definitely a reminder to just keep swimming. And, yes, it has been another great day. We are learning to work in increments of a couple hours at a time, giving good concentration to one project, then switching to another to refresh the mind. Some hours at my job, some hours at Mother Comfort's house and a couple playing with the band. All felt smooth and peaceful. I am learning to expect to have strength and energy for the things we invest in, rather than constantly searching for the end of it. I expect to be well, and look forward to each new day, each new task. Just keep swimming.

Thank you, to those who have encouraged me to take care of me and to take time for myself. Blip time is part of that, although I have kept commenting to a minimum so that I am able to keep getting sleep. A few very late nights made things feel out of balance right around Christmas. I think a little part of me wanted to take a vacation in the middle of all this, but, truly, that will have to wait, as the clock really does tick every day, closer to the time she will be released and we will simply have to have a plan and a destination for her.

We scheduled a meeting with the gutter guys. We need to reduce the dampness in the back of the house, so she asked us to get new gutters installed while we're at it because she believes the current ones to be lacking. She will be so relieved, she's been wanting to do that for so long, but has put it off. Now she won't have the anxiety of trying to supervise them while they do their work. Relief!

Just keep swimming...just keep swimming...just keep swimming...just keep swi