Change can be a good thing

This year, my job changed.  It changed dramatically.  There are always changes in my workplace, every year another layer is added to my already complex job.  Every year, teachers get a little more tired and it gets a little harder to be the teacher I dreamed I would be.  Last year, multiple changes almost monthly had me in tears most of the time and my physical health in decline.  How I pulled myself together is another story for another time.  Be assured, I am better than I was 8 months ago. This year, the changes were much greater and much more beneficial for my health, my social life and my work.  This year, the changes were good.

I don't want to go into specifics, because I think one of the reasons this was such a good thing, had a lot to do with my attitude about it.  The changes are ones I fought for a long time.  Changes I thought I couldn't abide or manage.  This year, I welcomed the changes.  I made a list of all the benefits of these changes and I embraced them.  I tried to think about the possible problems and worked out ways around them.  I also decided that I wasn't going to let the stupid stuff get in my way.  I decided I was simply going to focus on my job and only my job.

This was all going very well until this week.  You see, this week, I landed in the middle of a pain episode.  This is a span of a few hours to a few days of high pain levels and discomfort.  I was having not only pain, but I was shaking, itchy and having muscle spasms, I was nauseas and had a headache.  It was impossible to focus on anything.  It was impossible to relax or sleep or even breathe with any real depth.  I was exhausted, but couldn't sleep.  Heat packs and ice packs offered no relief.  None of the usual strategies that usually offer me some comfort, were rendered useless.  I took the maximum safe dose of medication and still felt awful.  There was nothing for it, but to wait it out.  That meant I missed a day at work.  

The fall out from this 12 hour episode continues.  It cost me a trip to the physio, pain medication, sleep, exercise and energy.  I am still trying to catch up on the work that I missed.  I am still feeling the impact of the muscle spasms, aches and change to my sleep pattern.  It will take time for everything to settle down again.  All of this has made me a little bit irritable.  I'm sure everyone didn't suddenly become nasty and annoying this week.  I sure it's just that my patience is thin.

Anyway, my point is..... some change can be really good and often the outcome of the change can be influenced largely by our attitude.  The cause of this episode is difficult to determine.  While much of my lifestyle is geared towards managing mild pain and pacing activity so that these episodes can be prevented as much as possible, I am not sure what I could possibly have done differently.  You see, the warning signs were almost non-existent.  Usually there are alarm bells, not little whispers.  So, I must take the attitude that moving forward (however carefully) is the best option for tomorrow.

If you are facing change... or the need for change... think about the benefits, imagine the possibilities for positivity and progress.  Take the step with an attitude of hopeful anticipation and see what happens.
:)