I like containers and I like practices (even if I’m nervous about not sticking with them). For a few weeks I’ve had this idea (14 on Friday) where I write 14 things….thoughts, words, paragraphs, lines of poetry, images, whatever. Maybe it’s the alliteration, maybe it’s the relationship with the sonnet, maybe there’s no reason, but 14 is the number that’s been rattling around in my brain. So today I’m starting.
Last weekend I was in bed twice with headaches (and the anxiety they bring that they might turn into migraines). One did, but luckily didn’t last as long as most. Once it cleared, I started thinking about how my view of migraines has evolved over the last 7 or so years, how when it hits the tipping point from “headache” to “migraine,” I’ve learned to let go of the fight and to listen for the lesson.
14 things I’ve learned from living with migraines:
1 How to cancel plans
2 How to listen to my body
3 How to rest
4 How to suffer
5 How to ask for help
6 That everything can wait
7 That I am not the only person for the job (whatever the job)
8 That I am strong
9 That I can say no
10 That I can meet myself in the stillness
11 Stillness
12 Presence
13 Impermanence
14 Prayer
