So here I am once more, customary spotty pajama bottoms and scoffing Percy Pigs (thank you M&S for foam sweet heaven) pondering about the question posed by a fellow patient 'are you happy' and the topic of a previous late night spotty post. The answer remains the same, naturally, yes! However my emotional, physical and psychological status, which is great, I attribute my 'life approach'. (which actually has zero to do with PD, simply that PD is a consideration in everything due to the impact it causes)
Oh er she's gone all fancy worded, all I am saying is I don't sit on my backside, I drive everything forward, everything. A deeper look at happiness and for me it hinges on 2 key elements acceptance and fulfillment.
The acceptance was easy, thats down to personality, I have never been a why me? Woe is me? person. I don't waste energy on things that I personally cannot fix (although I support the solution hunters) and I don't give any time or priority to anything that doesn't provide something of value or enrichment. (The PD community does, PD in itself doesn't) So acceptance was easy and by the time I had driven home on my DX day, I was already close.
Fulfillment is a far more important aspect, especially as this illness is 'life emptying' and has the nasty little consequence of stripping your life bare, until, for some I guess, life is lifeless. For me fulfillment comes from learning, giving, being valued, diversity, making an impact, improvement, gosh and I could write a tonne more but there are already some heavy weights in that lot! This I definitely do not leave to chance I make sure I interact with the world, I seek out projects, I volunteer for loads of things, I never have a quiet day. Here I sit the day before that Wedding and realise it is 9 months since I had a proper day off, and I 'work' 7 days a week. But this is exactly how I like it. Being fulfilled for me = happiness. If you are struggling with finding ways to get this balance, try having a huge brainstorm, making some proper plans of things you are going to achieve (and how to) and if that doesn't work give me a shout I have 100's of ideas, everyday!
Good morning from Scotland, and have a great Friday