Sharing Resource: Migraine Links

I've found many fantastic resources that can be helpful for anyone, regardless of where in their journey with Migraine they are. If you're newly diagnosed, these can help you better understand your new diagnosis. If you've been living with Migraine for years, these might offer different information than you've previously come across. And, sometimes, it's just nice to have a refresher course.

Here's my MIGRAINE LINKS.

This post was written as part of the Health Activist Writer's Awareness Challenge (HAWMC).

Wordless Wednesday: Sno Cones!

© 2013 Jamie V.

© 2013 Jamie V.

First Sno Cones of the 2013 Season
© 2013 Jamie V.

This post was written as part of the Health Activist Writer's Awareness Challenge (HAWMC).

Update: Driving Myself (3/25/13)

While the excitement has diminished and I've been dealing with increased pain / decreased independence, I'd like to share something that happened a week and a half ago.

I wrote this on March 25, 2013:

While this may not seem like a very big achievement to some, I know that others will really understand the magnitude.

I've driven myself THREE times in the past week!!! [again, this was a couple weeks ago]

I hadn't driven in ages, but I drove myself to get a massage, go shopping for almost two hours, and to visit with my parents / family (each on separate days).

I'm so proud of myself for doing this. And, I realized that in some ways I kinda miss driving. Of course, there's the feeling more independence thing, which is amazing (even if only for an evening). But, I also enjoy listening to the radio when I drive.

Anyway, I just wanted to share my excitement!

Though the memory of this seems like so long ago, and it may be quite a while before I'm able to do something like this again, I try my best to cherish these opportunities and achievements.

This post was written as part of the Health Activist Writer's Awareness Challenge (HAWMC).

Health Activist Writer's Awareness Challenge 2013: Let's Get Started!

Well, it's been a month and a half since I've posted on my blog. I apologize for my absence. It's been a whirlwind lately, and I needed to focus on things other than my blog. Not that things have really calmed down, but I'd like to get back to writing again - if for nothing else, to share some of the ups and downs that I've been experiencing lately. That being said...

Today marks the beginning of the Health Activist Writer's Month Challenge (HAWMC) for 2013. This is my 3rd year to participate in the challenge, so I'd like to do my best to complete the challenge again this year.

Why I write about my health online: I've written about this over the past two years, and my reasoning behind writing hasn't really changed.

• I Write About My Health Because...
• HAWMC Prompt 6: Why I Write About My Health

Why I've chosen to participate in HAWMC this year: I believe I answered this above - I'd like to get back to writing, and this is a challenge I've been participating in the past two years.

LET'S GET STARTED!

This post was written as part of the Health Activist Writer's Awareness Challenge (HAWMC).

A Valentine & Love Letter From God

               For God so loVed the world

      That He gAve

          His onLy

          BegottEn

              SoN

                            That whosoever

           Believeth In Him

                    Should Not perish,

                         But have Everlasting love

                                                             ~ John 3:16

My Child,

I know everything about you … Psalm 139:1
I knew you even before you were conceived … Jeremiah 1:4-5
I knit you together in your mother’s womb … Psalm 139:13
You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book … Psalm 139:15-16

I am not distant and angry, but am the complete expression of love … 1 John 4:16
And it is my desire to lavish my love on you … 1 John 3:1
Simply because you are my child and I am your father … Matthew 7:11
Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand … James 1:17
My plan for your future has always been filled with hope … Jeremiah 29:11
For you are my treasured possession … Exodus 19:5
When you are brokenhearted, I am close to you … Psalm 34:18
As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to my heart … Isaiah 40:11
One day I will wipe away every tear from your eyes … Revelation 21:3-4
And I’ll take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth … Revelation 21:3-4
Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled … 2 Corinthians 5:18-19
His death was the ultimate expression of my love for you … 1 John 4:10
And nothing will ever separate you from my love again … Romans 8:31-32
I have always been Father, and will always be Father … Ephesians 3:14-15
Come home and I’ll throw the biggest party heaven has ever seen … Luke 15:7

Love,
Your Abba Almighty God

Lessons: Grace & Forgiveness (Part 3)

I would be lying if I said that I don't need to forgive both myself and others. I'm very self-critical, but I can be pretty critical of others as well.

"To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable,
because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you" (C.S. Lewis)

Until we forgive, we are in a self-made prison and at a stand-still in our relationship with God. If we don't forgive, we will lose our appetite for prayer, the Scriptures, Christian fellowship... we cut ourselves off from God.

I've been in that self-made prison before, where the appetite for prayer, the Scriptures, and Christian fellowship it lost. It's a lonely and dark place to be.

"Forgiveness happens inside the person doing the forgiving. It heals our pain and resentment before it does anything for the person we forgive; they might never know about it" (Lewis Smedes, author of The Art of Forgiving, Morrings, 1996).

My car accident, and the resulting health struggles, has often left me feeling lonely. There are some of my friends that I felt would (and should? - see, being critical) be there for me in ways that they simply weren't / haven't been. It has hurt me so deeply that I find myself trying to trudge through latent resentment, which has held me back from doing all I should to help heal these relationships.

If you are having difficulty forgiving someone, ask yourself in what way you might lack forgiveness for yourself.

I have been looking a lot at what I need to forgive myself for, in hopes that it would free me to be able to forgive others. The Bible does not specifically speak of forgiving ourselves.

"Not forgiving ourselves is a symptom, which will take care of itself if we truly forgive others and receive prayers of healing" (from here).

So, I should be working harder to forgive others, that I, too, may be forgiven.

"For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins" (Matthew 6:14-15).

"Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation" (Luke 11:4).

In order to forgive, we must release old perceptions and unresolved hurts, but that does not mean that we have to trust him/her or condone inappropriate behavior. We can forgive, while still keeping healthy boundaries. But, forgiveness releases us from the chains of unresolved resentment, and allows us to open our heart and freely consider the future of our relationships.

"Forgiveness is our decision to accept God's grace to let go of the hurt due to sins committed against us and to express this by acts of mercy and love toward the offender" (from here; see Luke 15:20-24).

We are called to forgive immediately (see Matthew 5:25) and indefinitely - "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times" (Matthew 18:22).

We are called to pardon / forgive others, before we are asked for forgiveness.. and even if we are never asked for forgiveness.

"None of us can forgive by our own power. "To err is human, to forgive divine," [Alexander Pope] and we are not divine. However, the Lord promised us His divine power to forgive. Therefore, forgiveness is our decision to accept God's grace to forgive" (from here).

I'm trying to let go of the unresolved resentment that I've held onto toward myself and others. But, I'm trusting in God's mercy and in His timetable.

We must ask for the grace of forgiveness, and then let go - it may take a short or long period of time, but it will come.

I already have the grace and forgiveness of my loving Father, and that makes all the difference.

"The practice of forgiveness is our most important contribution to the healing of the world."  (Marianne Williamson)

Lessons Series:
Lessons: Learning the Hard Way (Part 1)
Lessons: Learning the Hard Way (Part 2)
Lessons: From Suffering to Empowered
Lessons: Learning From Life With Chronic Pain
Lessons: Finding Joy
Lessons: Perfectionism (Part 1)
Lessons: Perfectionism (Part 2)
Lessons: Learning to Accept Imperfection (Part 1)
Lessons: Learning to Accept Imperfection (Part 2)
Lessons: Learning to Accept Imperfection (Part 3)
Lessons: Grace & Forgiveness (Part 1)
Lessons: Grace & Forgiveness (Part 2)
Lessons: Grace & Forgiveness (Part 3)