Showing posts with label panic attacks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label panic attacks. Show all posts

Friday, January 10, 2014

Yes you can... now just breathe...



Good Morning Peeps... Pominators ran out and back in... breakfast done... had bacon, sautéed yellow squash, and an egg with apple cider vinegar

Gonna have my first cup of coffee... and head to a soak in an Epsom salts bath... ok... yeah.. Just ouch... I am stiff and sore… but working in that Quonset was a major workout… and… we got so much of that cleared out… frankly I am amazed… of course there just had to be an episode… of panic attacks are us… geez… followed up by an overload of anxiety… seriously could have done without that… kinda knocked me sideways for most of the day… went and took some more rescue remedy and some coQ10… because my heart was racing… and headed back out to the Quonset…

Tough time trying to stay on task… kept losing focus… fortunately there was someone here to keep things rolling and on task… I can follow direction ok… well … pretty well when I’ve triggered… or rather in the aftermath of it… but trying to organize and stay on task without direction… is pretty … well… not much would have gotten done… as I tend to walk in a circle and stare at it…

Well I got through it… with help from a friend… a good friend to not freak out when this stuff happens… those of you that deal with this stuff … know what I mean.

At any rate … we got quite a bit done… I am physically sore… emotionally and mentally exhausted… but calm and stronger… and glad to be this far along with it… oh… and yes there is more to do… and yes I am going to keep moving forward with it… and probably have more panic attacks and emotional overloads… and still move on… healing as I go… facing this stuff… sorting through it… purging what is garbage… passing on what others can use … is cathartic…

Oh… that Quonset… is a 30 by 70 ft building that was full from the back to the front doors…

Taking it one step… one moment at a time…

Yes you can… now just breathe…

Mary E. Robbins
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Friday, December 13, 2013

Use your fear as fuel...



Good Morning Peeps…

Gratitudes:
Moments of quiet
Dolvett
Friends

Did something stupid last night… didn’t think it was necessarily stupid when I did it… but geez it was. I had a white chocolate raspberry scone… how something that tastes so good… can make a person… namely me… so ill is just beyond… ugh… nasty nasty gastric attack all night… still spent and ill this morning…

No there was nothing spoiled with the scone… it was quite tasty… however it seems my digestive system is becoming less and less tolerant of white flours… increasing digestive intolerance… topped off with exhaustion and a huge dose of stress… resulted in a very painful miserable night…

Not a feel sorry for me moment… rather a what can I learn from this moment… seriously need to manage the stress better… or… rather release it…

Use your fear as fuel…. Use the fear as a fuel for change… those demons (challenges) are always going to be with you… how you deal with them is going to make you… ~Dolvett (not exact quote… but what I got from it)

Yes I was listening to “The Biggest Loser” this morning and what Dolvett was saying jumped out and touched me…

Rather than letting fear run your life use it as fuel… motivation for change… gain strength … saying the challenges are always going to be with you is not defeatist… this life is full of challenges… of one kind or another… whether emotional… financial… physical… relationships… work… health… the list goes on and on… it just is…

How we deal with said challenges makes all the difference… this has really been driven home this week… some challenges I have dealt with fairly well… for instance… I drove through ground blizzards to get home this past week… without panic attacks… this is such a victory for me… I was thankful … scratch that… very thankful I was in my truck which is set up for off road… as in I use a step to get up into it… so most of the ground blizzards were below my windshield… I took a pause and watched the swirling snow dancing and drifting across the road in front of me… and was amazed by the swirling beauty of it… there was one not far from my home that just went whoosh… up over the top of the truck… and on up completely encompassing my truck completely obscuring my vision…lost in the swirling whitness wind howling rocking the truck…

In an instant the panic started… then I heard in my head … just take it slow… make sure over drive is off… 4 wheel drive is on … so if you go off the road you have a chance of getting back up on it… and kept crawling forward… then as quickly as it was up over the truck it was gone… the amazing dancing wind playing with the snow… I fully expected there to be a huge snow drift over that patch the next morning… but the wind had other spots in mind… and that stretch of road had no snow at all… it had whipped it all away…

Being able to see the beauty … and being able to actually drive through the darkness… and yes even the daylight on icy snowy roads… is such a victory for me…. I did it… I really did it… yay!

On the flip side… there is another situation that I have not handled well at all. On an up note… at the start of several… yes I lost count… panic attacks… that dizzying off balance mess… I managed to head them off with rescue remedy and trying to just take it a moment at a time. Made for a miserable exhausting stressful day…but I made it through it. Can not say my attitude was a positive one… frankly it sucked… and I tend to project whatever I am feeling… eeessshhh… spilled that crap attitude all over the place… well what is done is done… nothing I can do about it now…

Just going on from here… one moment at a time… still dealing with a very negative situation in which my hands are effectively tied when it comes to changing the situation to a more positive outcome… from what I can see the only thing I can actually do is determine how I am going to allow it to effect me… negatively as in yesterday… or in a positive healthy manner… no I am not saying to deny that it is a negative situation… I am saying to not allow it to effect me negatively… to negatively effect my state of being… or my physical health for that manner…

It is so hard to watch… folks you care about destroy something they care about out of fear… and pride…

It gets exceptionally hairy when they lash out looking for someone… anyone else… to blame for the difficulties they are creating themselves… by their choices…

I could just walk away… and I seriously thought about it… but I’ve given my word… so I will honor that …

Once again time has zoomed on by and I must go… no time to edit… hopefully this makes some coherent sense…

May you walk in peace…

Mary E. Robbins
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Sunday, November 10, 2013

back inside from doing ranch rounds



Back inside from doing ranch rounds… Brought in 2 cartloads of firewood… still no eggs from the girls (hens)… either they are not laying or something is eating them. I am thinking they are not laying… the quackers (ducks) are vocal souls… quacking away as they follow me around their yard… cleaned out all the waters and refilled them… feed the critters all around…

Then stopped and just soaked in the night… it is a calm night … absolutely beautiful… and filled with energy… today has been a series of swings from one side of the spectrum to the other… it felt really good to just stand out in the moonlight and recharge… perchance that sounds strange to some… but I know others will understand it…

Having a bit of beef, baked potato, and some romaine for dinner… brought in the Pominators and mastiffs… gave all their evening rations and treats… now they are all quiet in for the night…

Was very glad to be home today… I’ve been really tired… mentally… spiritually… and physically… thinking I may go out and sit in my chair and savor the night… it is so beautiful…

It’s strange… I love the night… as long as I am home and not driving… put me in a car or truck at night and the anxiety/panic attacks go off the friggen charts…

I remember when I was a teenager… going out into the pasture and lying there at night watching the stars… so beautiful… it was quiet out there… no one knew exactly where I was… no one was yelling at me because frankly I was just gone… the coyotes would go running on by yipping… never bothered me either… peace in the night…

During the day… given half a chance… I would disappear out to the cemetery and walk around… it was so quiet and peaceful… if they were looking for me they would never look there… another favorite haunt of mine was under the irrigation canal bridges… well …when the water was not in there that is… I’d sit under the bridge and listen to the cars and trucks go over… all out of sight… hmmmmm… perhaps I was the troll under the bridge…

When I was at university in Tulsa… I used to disappear under the bridges over the Arkansas River… sit there and watch the water go by… and listen to the traffic going over… sitting up under the bridge where no one could see me… it was peaceful… watching the water swirling on by…

Timer on the oven just sounded… dinner time… 


Mary E. Robbins
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Saturday, November 09, 2013

rough go last night



Gratitudes: Hot coffee…breakfast… a warm place to sleep

Good Morning Peeps...tired this morning... rough go getting home last night. Still not doing so grand being out or driving at night... friggen panic attacks/anxiety... triggers me back to the night David died... in any event I did make it home... managed dinner and that was the end of it... exhausted on the couch... zzzzzzzzz....

On an up note... I did make the drive... without running off the road or any accidents along the way... made it without having to pull over too... so there is another victory... yay...

I seriously could have done without the emotional rollercoaster ride. Geez… but that does leave a body exhausted. Bugger it… out of time… gotta go…

Mary E. Robbins
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Monday, November 04, 2013

threats... attacks... self defense... forgiveness...




I didn’t know whether I was going to write this for posting or just for my journal… it’s been an enlightening, saddening, and very stressful week. Triggering massive panic attacks... and anxiety off the charts...

Up until this week guns for me were simply a tool to be used on the ranch when necessary. To put down an animal for slaughter, or to put down an animal that was suffering with no hope of recovery.

My husband who has since passed over to the other side, loved to collect them. not a psycho gun nut... simply a collector... a responsible human being. He liked to target shoot… and I shot with him.

From my beloved husband’s point of view… some guns were works of art… fine craftsmanship… with beautiful etching…

It just depends on the situation.

This past week… a neighbor whom we considered to be a friend became completely irrational towards me and attacked me via the phone… repeatedly… with the threat of physical violence underlying the calls. This person was not a close friend … but we were neighborly. His verbal attacks were repeated and vicious… and completely irrational... as well as unprovoked. I called the sheriff twice… my ranch is approximately 17 to 20 miles from the sheriff’s office… the neighbor lives about a mile from me… give or take a bit… there have been 2 restraining orders against this guy … that I know of…

After a couple of calls I refused to pick up the phone when his number came on caller ID… my answering machine picked them up instead… and he was vile…. Always with the threat of violence underlying… the thing that truly put me on alert was the irrationality of it all. If he is this irrational with a history of violence… he is capable of anything.

The rage I heard in his voice, the irrational ranting, the knowledge that he has attacked people before put me on full alert… since my husband died it’s just me and the animals living here. (frankly I am very thankful for my mastiffs)

I’ve been on the receiving end of a beating from an irrational drunken male before… (no not my husband… he was not that way) there is no reasoning with them… they just want to hurt you and they do… beatings… rape… cruelty…

I will not be put in that position again. Nor do I appreciate the campaign of terror he tried to inflict.

I called the sheriff’s office… and told them what was going on… they said to block his phone number…

The phone calls weren’t the major issue… vile…nasty… yes…but not the major issue… the threat of violent contact was… still is… (here is hoping this individual stays away from me and just gets on with his own life)

If he bursts through my house door or accosts me on my property while I am out taking care of my livestock I will defend myself. Yes I would try to call the sheriff… but when attacks happen… they happen really fast… and yes that is the voice of experience… from an unarmed woman at the time.

Now I would try to defend myself with whatever I had on hand… hands, feet, knife, pitchfork, hoe, bucket… whatever… but I would have a much better chance of survival with a hollow-point bullet.

Most of the time I will never need it… whether it’s to stop a cougar that has decided to attack, a rattle snake, or some injured creature that is lashing out… or a loose rabid dog… or a vicious irrational human.

I don’t want to… but if I have to… I will put him down like a rabid dog who’s only option is to suffer and die or be put down.

Not something I want to do… not living in fear… just done. I will not be some abuser’s victim again… not if I can do anything about it. I will always take peaceful means first… as I would much rather live in a peaceful way… with respect for each other… agreeing to disagree when there are differences of opinion… and so on.

However… when attacked I will defend myself by any means necessary.

I deal with men on a daily basis… 99.9% of them are decent human beings… then there is that twisted predator dropped in the mix wearing a decent human being mask. Don’t believe they exist… look at all the missing people posters… men…women…children…

Thanks … but I’ll pass on being the next victim in their parade… been there done that… don’t care to do it again.

That being said… just having a gun is not going to protect anyone. That is a false sense of security. A gun is a tool… if you do not know how to use it defensively … calm without fear… you are going to get hurt or hurt someone else that is in actuality no threat to you. Or if they are a threat and you think having a gun is going to protect you… wrong… threaten with a gun… and risk having it taken away from you and used on you.

Your first line of defense are your instincts… if something feels off… it is… listen to your instincts… be aware of your surroundings. I am not saying to live in fear… I am saying to be aware…

Not the way I would have chosen to live… but it is what it is… hmmmm… guess a gun is still just a useful tool to me…

I would rather the sheriffs handle things… but realistically there is little they can do until an actual act of violence is in progress… then with the distances… it is simply too late.

May you walk in peace…

Mary E. Robbins
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Daily Gratitudes:
sunny morning
hot coffee
true friends


Monday, October 14, 2013

Ha! I did it!








Ha! I did it… I made it home over that muddy greasy… slippery road… without putting the jeep in 4 wheel drive. I turned the overdrive off… and took it slow to see if I could make it… I made it… I made it… nah nah nah… I made it… without going in the ditch…


I stopped and fueled the jeep before leaving town to come home… and picked up a couple of those 70 pound sand weights and put them in the back of the jeep for added traction weight. I think they actually helped.

I have decent tires on the jeep… not the mud boggers like what’s on the truck but decent tires. I love my old truck… she will go through just about any mud mess… but geez she does guzzle the fuel…that’s why I’ve been going for it in the jeep…

This little episode is a huge deal for me… since sliding on a clay…gravel…muddy… or whatever road tends to trigger panic attacks…. Couple it with it getting dark and it can be … shall we say a bit hairy… understatement of the year! I got pretty tense… but just slowed way down… much slower and I would have been stopped… but I got through it… yes I did… happy dance… happy dance…

That sliding sensation triggers back to when I was in a car wreck on a bridge over an irrigation canal on a gravel road and had half my face ripped off… you know I had no fear… none what so ever in a vehicle before that happened… after that… geez… seriously… is there a switch somewhere that I can flip to just turn this stuff off… no… well that figures… ppppphhhhtttttt…..

EEEwwwww…. Just thinking about that wreck and I can feel the car sliding sideways as the driver tried to miss an oncoming car in the middle of the bridge… he tried to take the ditchrider’s road along the side of the canal… and couldn’t make it… we went sliding into the end of the bridge railing… it popped up and came through the car taking half my face off with it as it went through… slowing the car a bit as the car smashed into the opposite side of the canal… the car dropped to the bottom of the canal and compressed… crushing the driver’s lungs… wedging me between the front and back seats on the floor with my knees jammed into the floorboards… hello damaged knees… the driver was pinned by the steering wheel… he survived… still has issues with his lungs… to my knowledge… the other two people in the car came away with one minor cut and some bruises… I had on a blue and white checked seersucker top on and white denim jeans… funny how one remembers such things…

I remember there was blood running down my front on my shirt and jeans… I thought I had a bloody nose and put my hands up to try and stop it and put my fingers through where my face was supposed to be… I remember thinking my mom was going to be mad because I wasn’t where I was supposed to be… I was 14 years old…

I lost so much blood that my vision faded to black… and I felt like I was just floating away in that beautiful black… so beautiful… so peaceful… then I heard the emt … seemed like he was yelling but sounded so far away… we were in the ambulance… and suddenly the beautiful black that had been so peaceful was gone and I was rocketing down the road in an ambulance to the hospital… and I could see again… the rest of that trip is kinda scrambled…

Ah… my coffee cup is empty… and the Pominators are barking let me back in… let me back in… I ran them outside to do their business… so I’d best bring them back inside and give them all their snuggles… and check for pominator poo in their areas… yes I am the pominator poo clean up crew…

Get that done and refill my coffee cup… and perhaps wash that stack of dishes in the sink… you know I never appreciated that dishwasher I had when I lived in town… well maybe one day I’ll have one out here… then again maybe not… at any rate they need to be washed… although the temptation is to “drop” them in the trash… hehehehe….

I hear the wind picking up again... best move it...

Later taters…


Mary E. Robbins
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Saturday, September 28, 2013

how to have a good day...




Truth in this... woke up this morning... and the typical panic started... took a breath ... got out of bed and started running the Pominators and Mastiffs outside for their morning potty break... all the while feeling the panic and emotional pain rising inside of me... I stopped and gave thanks for the day... savoring the feel of the sunshine on my face on a brisk autumn day... the panic and emotional pain subsided... I could feel it sinking away... such a blessing...

May you walk in peace...

Mary E. Robbins
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Sunday, March 17, 2013

Saint Patricks Day...2013



Yesterday morning I woke up 2 more pounds heavier... so I swelled up around 5 pounds... today 1.8 pounds of that has come back off... so that is a positive note.

Felt almost human on an emotional and mental level yesterday… fell asleep on the couch and dreamed… I was in the bathroom of our family home (my mom’s house…the one that burned down) I looked in the mirror and it was so many years ago… because I was a very young woman looking back out at me… My eyes were still the dark brown rather than having faded with age… my hair was a rich auburn with shades of gold that came naturally to me then… rather than the silver and just dark it is now… my hair color faded when I had west nile virus.

I think mom was saying something to me from the other room… but I don’t know what. I remember saying or thinking… not sure which… I have one more thing to do then I am out of here…

I wasn’t sad … mad… fearful… in pain… or heavy… there did not seem to be any friction between my mom and I either… like there had been so many times in this life…

I miss my Mom… she died September 6th 2012…I don’t wish her back in that body in pain all the time… I don’t know why there are so many misunderstandings in this life… people give each other so much pain… inadvertently as well as deliberately.

Today I woke up in fear and panic… emotional pain spiraling … I don’t know why… but writing it out seems to help to calm that panic rush in my chest….

Have the mastiffs outside… one set of the Pominators have been run out and back in… the other set of house Pominators are outside barking to come back in…

Peanut (very small cream party pom) has an abscess on the side of his face… giving him Echinacea and aloe vera in cottage cheese… he looks better today than yesterday… think I’ll mix a bit of raw honey in with the cottage cheese.

One of the girls time came … Tulip (orange party pom) is no longer an older dog…she is free running about the rainbow bridge. She was one of the gentlest souls I have ever met. Such a sense of peace and love around her. I miss her presence. Her house mate… Snickers does not have much time left in this life… she is a loving chocolate girl…

No I am not being cruel… letting them cross over when their time comes… trying to force them to stay when it is time for them to go is cruel… It is difficult though… I don’t think I will ever forget the night Yoda (wolf malamute) crossed over… and it was a number of years ago. I can still see his laughing eyes… and hear his howl… he was only with us 3 or 4 years… he came in as an aged fellow.

His human did not throw him away… from what I understand he ended up in jail over something and some “friends” were supposed to take care of Yoda… and they dumped him off to be destroyed… I heard when the guy got out of jail he tried to find out where Yoda was… they wouldn’t tell him… nor would they tell me how to contact him so I could let him know Yoda was living here… Well Yoda is free of that aging body… his time with us was a gift to us… such a beautiful soul…

Gonna go bring the Pominators in and give them breakfast…

May you walk in peace…

Mary E. Robbins
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Monday, March 04, 2013

Just Breathe






Rough weekend. Frankly the roughest in a very long time. Wave after wave of pain… both emotional and physical… crisis level after crisis level. Panic attacks, anxiety… anger… unable to speak or read… confusion… wailing… stuck in place staring into space… it’s time to get help… probably way past time truth be told… It seems it is beyond me to stabilize this on my own…this time around.

I am exhausted… perhaps a little wiser… perhaps not… at any rate I am still here. 

With a bit more understanding of what my Uncle Gene went through. 

Searing pain in my left knee is what woke me up this morning.  Legs are not wanting to work well today. Genetic crap… I remember my mother trying to make her legs work… and grandma as well. 

As much as I wanted to have children… perhaps it is better that I was unable to. At least they will not have to deal with this genetic heritage.

It is amazing to me how life and/or our states in it can change so very rapidly. Years of work and focus… to actually be able to have relative peace in my mind… shattered … gone… in an instant…

Swirling chaos once again….with no safe place to hide…and rest… Years ago … over 30 years ago now… the library in Morrill Nebraska used to be my safe place.  Mrs. Cline was the librarian   with her bright red hair and kind soul.  She always kept an eye out for me because I was a little red haired girl… like her red haired kids. Light skin and red hair.  No matter how chaotic things got at home or around me… it was calm and safe there.  I realize now it was not the only the library… it was Mrs. Cline’s presence. I would go and look for my favorite books and actually fall asleep in the stacks. 

One moment at a time…

Mary E. Robbins
307.788.0202
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Saturday, March 02, 2013

Beautiful sunrise this morning



Beautiful sunrise this morning. Love it that it was between 35 and 40 degrees F in my front yard as the sun was rising. …and it is calm… no wind yet… note the yet.

Panic attacks still running rampant. The rescue remedy helps… doesn’t stop them… but helps me to manage better…thankful that I can use it… and extremely thankful for the wonderful friends that told me about it.

A friend is helping with the railroad paperwork. I still can not read it. Panic sets in rapidly and the words that I should be able to comprehend turn into garbled incomprehensible ink marks on paper. I am hoping we will have this stuff taken care of in a positive manner soon.

I kept going back and forth from being able to speak to not being able to form words yesterday… no it’s not low blood sugar… it seems to be tied into residual effect from west nile and triggered by the panic attacks. It doesn’t happen very often when I am not having panic attacks but it does happen at times. It never happened before the west nile.


Went to a doctor yesterday to discuss things. I tried going to the doctor… or rather I did go to the doctor without wearing compression pants…and I saw my mom’s struggles much more closely… I could not lift my left leg by itself to get into the car. I had to take a hold on my pants and pick it up. I remember watching my mom use her pants, or a rope… or a strap… to pick her legs up to get into a car for years. Carrie drove me to the doctor. By the time we got there my ankles had nearly doubled in size. I took the cane David made me with me or I would not have been able to make it into the doctor’s office.

I remember my grandma trying to walk. She always used a walking stick or crutches to get around. Her legs would swell so huge and she had running ulcers around her calves and shins… Mom’s legs swelled the same way… she wore job hose but walking became next to impossible… and in the 30 years of her life she was in a wheelchair.

I had hoped that I would not have this genetic mess as severely as they did… so far no ulcers… and I will continue to use the compression pants… and elevate my legs when I do not have them on. Nothing else to do other than take it one day at a time… and keep moving…. I will keep moving as long as I am able to do so.

I so wish I could sit down with my mom and grandma and have coffee and visit. Grandma grew beautiful flowers. Hollyhocks… when ever I see hollyhocks I see her. Mom used to have beautiful vegetable gardens. I never understood what it took for them to walk or to get things done… well I am starting to now. There is so much pain in those legs. It’s like a heated up piece of wire is being jabbed in and twisted through them… then you try to take a step and they just do not hold.

It is much worse without the compression pants…. Grandma never had anything like that to wear. I miss them so much. I look back now and realize how wrong I was about so many things… I am looking forward to seeing them again when I cross over. I know they loved me… still do… and I love them as well. But for now … It seems I am not yet finished here… so I give thanks for this day… and am learning to trust God to give me the love, strength, and guidance to walk through it…



Life is a journey... 
One moment one breath at a time…
Mary E. Robbins 
307.788.0202 
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Robbins Run Ranch


Thursday, January 05, 2012

2012 A New Year: 1 Solid Goal


2012 it amazes me that it is actually year 2012. I remember being terrified of year 2000 when I was a child. I remember thinking... that's the year I turn 40, and for some reason it seemed absolutely horrific. Well 2000 has come and gone, along with all the doomsday sayers for that year, and I am still here.

Of course we have a whole new spate of end of world fear mongers, and fear marketers, focused in on 2012. What do I think about all that? I think I will live until it is no longer my time to be in this life then I will no longer be here, and that is as it should be. I believe the fear mongers are seeking power by terrifying people, and the fear marketers, are using fear to make money. Frankly I believe both actions are disgraceful.

I did not make a list of resolutions for 2012. I set one solid goal. My goal for 2012 is to lose 100 pounds over the course of the year. Perhaps I should rephrase. My goal for 2012 is to be 100 pounds lighter by December 31st, 2012; and to achieve this change in a healthy manner.

I am not trying to lose huge amounts of weight per week, I am not weighing every day, nor am I obsessing over this goal. This time around I know it is achievable.

It would be great to have support in this journey, but with support or without it, I am making the changes to make achieving this goal a reality.

I am not seeking my family's approval of this goal. It would be great to have it, but if they resist my lifestyle changes, then that is up to them. I am continuing on. Yes resistance has already started. In the past I have allowed it to derail my goals and fallen back into old familiar "safe" routines.

Change tends to scare people. It seems to scare the people closest to you the most. I am sorry for their fear and uncertainty; but that is something they are going to have to deal with themselves. I choose to not live this fat unhealthy miserable lifestyle any longer. This is my choice. I am sorry if it scares you but I am continuing on with my quest.

I am hoping that the changes I am making in my lifestyle will encourage my family to make healthy changes as well. I am rather of worried about my husband, but he has to make his own decisions, I can not do it for him. That's been a really tough lesson for me to learn. I have always been one for trying "to fix" everything for those I care about. Taking responsibility for making everything "ok" for everyone. By the way, that does not work. Each of us is responsible for ourselves, it would be great if we could make it "ok" for others but it just does not work that way. What it does do is turn relationships into codependent enabler relationships, and frankly that is not healthy for anyone.

2011 was a year of healing, recuperation, and discovery, for me. My activity level was extremely limited after surgery in January 2011. I have not been that helpless and needy since I was a small child. The surgeon was right, it has taken the full year to recover, and heal my body.

The reduced activity level resulted in loss of muscle mass, I was amazed at how much. However, I am rebuilding in a steady, paced manner.

The major discovery was emotional, psychological, in nature. I discovered what was behind my compulsive binging behavior. As a result the compulsion to binge is gone. That is so wonderful! On the other hand, now I am experiencing on a daily basis, the emotions I was eating, so to speak. Allowing myself to actually experience these emotions has been a challenging process.

There was a phenomenal amount of anger, pain, feelings of betrayal, grief, rage, depression, and so on buried in layers of fat. I was eating my emotions, numbing myself to them. Only to have the dam burst periodically resulting in a massive flood of overwhelming emotions. It is actually quite wonderful to be out of that cycle.

All in all it is a good change. I am no longer binging, nor am I living in the past or the future. I am actually living now, in the moment. Life can be pretty wonderful lived in the moment.

The Serenity Prayer has become a Huge part of my life. It has been instrumental in helping me to get past massive panic attacks, and to accept the reality that I can not control everything. Also that I am not "responsible for" nor "required to control" everything.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I can not change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

It is ok to just be me. I do not have to be who anyone else expects me to be, or demands me to be... It is ok to enjoy the moment... to appreciate the moment... to just live. By the way, it's ok for you to just be you as well. :)

Living life in 2012, one moment at a time.

Life is a journey, enjoy the trip.
Mary E. Robbins
307-788-0202

'Daily Affirmation' Video