At last

Today I finally wrote the first words of my next book. I was very freaked out right before I did it--trying to choose exactly the right opening for the chapter, etc. (ego stuff, of course--wanting it to be "right"). Of course, those exact words may not end up being in there, but they are a start.. I don’t want to say too much about this as I found with Recreating Eden that talking about it much while in the process of writing diminishes the energy, and it takes time to build it back up again. So suffice to say that I am relieved—the blank screen is pretty intimidating! I’ve had an outline for quite awhile now, and now that I’ve started writing I can see that the outline is probably going to change, but the thing is that I have broken ground! And that’s huge.

The other major event to report is that my knee has improved considerably. Whereas I could not lift my foot to wash it with a washcloth before bedtime just a week ago, I can do so now. I can also bend my knee as I walk instead of having to keep it stiff. This, too, is huge, as before, keeping it stiff made it so tense, which in turn, made me rely even more on my other leg, which had started to deteriorate from the extra wear and tear. Now, I can stand up for more than 2 minutes at a time without being in extreme pain and fatigue—heck, I can go way more than that! And getting easier all the time. Yesterday, I decided I was going to walk normally, no matter how it felt, and was able to take 4 or 5 relatively normal steps! Rick says that it’s important so my body won’t forget a normal gait. I am finding that swallowing my pride and using the cane helps, too, even though for the most part I don’t need it. It’s just that when I do, I really do! Uneven ground is my cue to use the cane.

I attribute these improvements to my continual singing of “these knees are happy knees” and to my devotion to pampering my knees. In addition to telling my knees how much I love and appreciate them, I’ve been applying hot compresses (with essential oils), then exercising them (bending and flexing each knee 15 times while warm from the compress) and then icing them for 15 minutes. I’ve also been religiously applying MSM cream and Celadrin cream, and taking BLM, a Young Living supplement for supporting bones, ligaments, and muscles. I’ve also been taking extra glucosamine and MSM by mouth.

One thing is for certain—being in this condition has made it impossible to take my mobility for granted. You really just don’t realize how important your joints are until you experience something like this. Even with my history of rheumatoid arthritis, I just really didn’t ever seriously consider that my joints could fail me—or, rather, that I could fail my joints. When my knee started hurting while I was on the cross-country ski machine, I just told myself to push through it and did not honor the signals my body was giving me. I will not make that mistake again! I know I’m creating all this, so I’m intending to consciously create really HAPPY KNEES!

Okay—I haven’t done my compresses, etc. for today, so I’m off to do that. If you haven’t thanked your body lately for it’s amazing service, consider doing so! It’s quite empowering.