One of the worst things about living with a chronic illness - ADPKD in my case - is that you wake up one morning and find that suddenly you have limitations.
What? I'm used to powering through things. My dogged determination is my signature!
Sadly, not any more.
I've noticed that I'm tired more often. And when I'm working on things - like gardening - that I start out strong but quickly run out of steam.
Take, for instance, my fire pit. Last year I thought it would be a great idea if I created a landscaped fire pit at my house. I had the perfect place for it and I thought that it would add a great focal point to my backyard. I started digging up the area (yes, by hand. I never said I was particularly smart ;-) ) and barely made a dent.
Then winter came and Wisconsin was buried in snow. Now in May the snow has finally melted (but check back with me next week - it may be back) and I started thinking about that fire pit again. Hand digging didn't seem to be very expedient, the cost of having someone else do it seemed exorbitant but maybe I could rent a backhoe and do it myself...
Whoa, whoa, whoa!
Do I really need that fire pit? Do I really want to dedicate that much time this spring/summer to creating a fire pit?
Honestly, I like gardening a heck of a lot more than creating hardscaping.
Pivot.
So now I'm in the process of filling in the holes I created last year. I'm leveling out the area. And I'm going to... create a small flower garden. There's already a fire pit in the back corner of the yard (but not as pretty as the one I'd engineered in my head) so I'm going to landscape it so it looks less utilitarian and more recreational.
This disease sucks the energy right out of you. It's my choice to decide how I invest that energy. As the Rolling Stones so eloquently said, "You can't always get what you want. But if you try sometimes you might find you get what you need."
What? I'm used to powering through things. My dogged determination is my signature!
Sadly, not any more.
I've noticed that I'm tired more often. And when I'm working on things - like gardening - that I start out strong but quickly run out of steam.
Take, for instance, my fire pit. Last year I thought it would be a great idea if I created a landscaped fire pit at my house. I had the perfect place for it and I thought that it would add a great focal point to my backyard. I started digging up the area (yes, by hand. I never said I was particularly smart ;-) ) and barely made a dent.
Then winter came and Wisconsin was buried in snow. Now in May the snow has finally melted (but check back with me next week - it may be back) and I started thinking about that fire pit again. Hand digging didn't seem to be very expedient, the cost of having someone else do it seemed exorbitant but maybe I could rent a backhoe and do it myself...
Whoa, whoa, whoa!
Do I really need that fire pit? Do I really want to dedicate that much time this spring/summer to creating a fire pit?
Honestly, I like gardening a heck of a lot more than creating hardscaping.
Pivot.
So now I'm in the process of filling in the holes I created last year. I'm leveling out the area. And I'm going to... create a small flower garden. There's already a fire pit in the back corner of the yard (but not as pretty as the one I'd engineered in my head) so I'm going to landscape it so it looks less utilitarian and more recreational.
This disease sucks the energy right out of you. It's my choice to decide how I invest that energy. As the Rolling Stones so eloquently said, "You can't always get what you want. But if you try sometimes you might find you get what you need."
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