Isn’t it lovely when someone unexpectedly helps you out?
Today my Mum was in town and spent the morning cleaning and tidying my house that had got out of hand while I’ve been wrestling my little stomach parasites to the ground and evicting them from my body (see previous post for explanation!).
I’m not a neat freak, but after decluttering my house last year, I’ve managed to keep it in reasonable shape and, for the first time in many years, have felt proud of my house and at peace with the relative order it is in. It certainly takes a bit of energy to maintain it, but I find it takes more energy when I have to function with mess all over the place, not knowing where things are.
So today I’m giving huge thanks to my Mum for restoring my house and allowing me to concentrate on getting well again (have gone downhill since my last post – apparently it’s just my body trying to process the toxins the evicted parasites leave behind, so I’ll be fine soon!). And I’m reflecting on how such a few simple hours of assistance can make all the difference to people with CFS.
I don’t know about you, but these days it’s just my 9 year old daughter and me in the house. Nine year old daughters tend to MAKE mess more than clean it up – no matter how much I nag – so it’s pretty much all up to me. My habits have improved greatly in the past year, which means dishes usually get done straight away and things generally get put away as I use them. But with this unpredictable illness, along with the electrosensitivity pain, sometimes I just have to abandon deck and leave the mess until the next day.
Unfortunately the last month I’ve been pretty unwell, even in comparison to usual, so if we have food on the table, our clothes are clean and my kid gets to school and home on time, then the day has been a success. Higher order tasks have taken a back-seat – ie keeping things tidy etc.
Add to this I had some surprise visitors last week due to a family crisis, and my 18 year old foster brother is now living with me during the week, and things in the house have got out of hand. And I am amazed at how that has been affecting my mental state. Maybe it’s just been physically feeling depleted, but I do think that when my house cleaning and tidying gets away from me the overwhelm I feel in all areas of my life is affected.
It reminds me of how I define integrity – courtesy of my many programs at Landmark Education. In this case, integrity is just defined as workability really. Without integrity, nothing works. It’s not moral, it’s just like the spokes in a bicycle wheel. With all the spokes in, it works because it has integrity. Take a few spokes out and the integrity of the wheel is reduced, and hence, doesn’t work as well, if at all.
And lately my house just hasn’t worked. I keep losing things, tripping over things, and generally feeling scattered physically and mentally. Now, thanks to my beautiful and generous mother, integrity in my house is now restored, and I have the luxury of being able to use my energy to restore said integrity in other areas where it’s slipped out – mainly my health and my role as a Mum!
What a gift the people in our life are. My Mum and Dad live about an hour and a half away, but they visit often and both contribute to me in innumerable ways, especially when I’m having a bad patch health-wise. I have a wonderful family, extended family and group of friends (both near and far), who all contribute to my wellbeing in myriad ways.
Today I feel very grateful and appreciative of these special people. Naturally I’m always lucky to have my gorgeous daughter to bring me joy and gratitude, even when times are tough like on Mother’s Day (see this post).
Who are the special people in your life who help make things that little bit easier? Let me know in the comments section below. Let’s pay tribute to those earth angels in our lives.
Keep Smiling
Louise
PS. Thanks Sonia 🙂
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