Motivational Mondays: Thank Heaven for Physical Therapy

Thought for the Day: It is now day 6 since my knee surgery & I went for my second physical therapy appointment. As I said a couple of days ago, my recovery is actually moving along at a pretty normal pace, however, it is a humbling experience. The pain is still an issue which I am managing with pain killers and ice. It is very strange to have to think about walking without a limp or remembering how to climb stairs the way I have for a lifetime. Fear of pain also gets in the way of doing things more naturally.

On Saturday, I went to my 1st physical therapy appointment with Amanda at Wilton Physical Therapy. I was amazed at how much progress I made even though the exercises were fairly simple. Since I have a doctor's appointment later today & Amanda Kaslowitz, DPT, CPT,  could not see me at a time that worked, I met with Tony Grabiec, MSPT, CPT, her associate. I came expecting to do similar exercises; however, I was in for some surprises. Tony pushed me to a much higher level. I could not believe the contortions he put my knee & leg through. Then, he had me do exercises I did not think were possible before I did them. When he had me climb onto a stationary bike, I thought he was crazy! At first, I could barely move the pedals. He raised the seat & encouraged me to pedal backwards or forwards as much as I could. Mind you, there was no tension on the bike, but I was pushing the pedals as far as I could. He encouraged me to pedal one full circle in either direction, but I could not do it yet. Finally, he made my knee into an ice sandwich with some electrical stimulation to help speed the healing process. My leg feels a bit stiff now & a little sore (thank goodness I took pain medication before my appointment), but I already see changes in how much I am able to bend my knee & sit more normally.

I don't want to bore you with the details of my physical therapy. Bear with me, there is a reason I am writing about this. Those of you who follow this blog know I have always been an active person. I chose to have this operation because I was in pain, could barely walk & wanted my active lifestyle back. I want to return to normal as soon as possible. As motivated as I am, I know that without a therapist like Amanda & Tony, I could never have done the kind of exercises I did today. Sometimes, no matter how motivated we are to change, we need people cheering us along the way to recovery. They have dealt with all kinds of injuries & know what to expect. They know how hard to push & when to let the client set the pace. Tony's confidence that I could raise my leg higher or bend my knee further will help me trust in my ability to recover. In psychotherapy, it is similar except that the markers are not physical. It can take longer to see progress.

Whatever challenges you are recovering from, take advantage of the therapists who can help keep you motivated. Has a physical therapist or other therapist helped you do more than you believed possible? I'd love to hear your stories.

#FF Follow Up Friday: Humbling Insights from Recovery

Thought for the Day: Today is day 3 since I had arthroscopic knee surgery. I am right on target with my recovery. I'm able to walk without crutches or a cane. I have removed the bulky bandages which were protecting my knee & am am down to just tylenol for pain. Tomorrow, I start physical therapy. I should be pleased with my progress & in many ways I am. However, I had hoped to be feeling better by now. The doctor & all those I spoke with, prior to the procedure, emphasized that it was minimally invasive, which it was, but it is still surgery. I thought that I would be back to regular blogging, but do not feel focused enough to write my normal posts. Much of my leg feels sort of numb & I'm not ready to dance the night away! I can see that there is a light at the end of the tunnel & know it was the right thing to go ahead & have the surgery, but it may take longer than I had hoped to recover fully. I am also bored, but don't have the energy or focus to do much. I need to remind myself that it has only been 3 days since the operation & that it will get better from here.

The experience has made me both grateful & humble. I am grateful for the health I have had most of my life. Thankful that this was the 1st time I ever had to use crutches or a cane & for the strength of my legs & knees that have supported me as I danced, swam, & hiked through life. As I waited for the surgery, I began to notice how many people around me every day appear to have trouble walking. My issue was fairly simple & hopefully it will be repaired completely soon. Other people have not been as lucky as me. Knee &/or hip replacements are not as easy to tolerate & often do not succeed as well as meniscus surgery. Since this experience, I will never  look at a person limping or using a cane or a walker in the same way. I have always had tremendous respect for people in wheelchairs working to lead as normal of a life as possible. As patient & accepting of others' disabilities as I believe I am, this experience made me confront my own impatience with myself when my legs weren't working right. This experience has taught me that I need to be more patient with myself. If any condition becomes permanent, I hope that I will find ways to continue doing what I love despite whatever happens.

Have a wonderful weekend. I hope to return to regular blogging soon.

Motivational Mondays: Taking a Short Break: Aging Gracefully Vs Kicking & Dancing

Thought for the Day: I had planned to write a post earlier, but have been busy seeing clients & preparing for meniscus knee surgery early tomorrow morning. I also missed posting Sunday's Comics yesterday. I am not sure if I will have the energy to write tomorrow or later in the week, although I am hoping to be able to continue writing my blog. I understand that the operation is minimally invasive & hope to be back to swimming & working very soon.

When I was a teenager & young adult, I always hoped to age more like my grandmother than my mother. They had two distinct styles. My grandmother, whom we called Moma, aged gracefully. Even her hair complied with her aging, she never dyed it & it stayed mainly black with touches of grey tints till she was well into her 70's. People often mistook my grandmother for my mother since she cared for me and my brothers while my mother worked full time. Moma loved to garden & took walks, but never did any strenuous exercise, unless you consider raising 4 grandchildren  exercise. As she grew older she walked slower. She had a heart condition which at the time was considered inoperable, but I never heard her complain or even speak about it.

My mother's approach to aging was almost diametrically opposite to her mother's approach. She was always in a hurry. Driving from place to place trying to fit a few extra hours into her day. She did not exercise & had asthma most of her life. She hated getting older, dyed her hair & did not want to slow down for anything or anybody. Because she was self conscious she almost always wore high heeled shoes. As she grew older she replaced the 3 inch heels for two & finally one inch ones. No one could convince her to slow down, She would would age kicking & screaming. She did try to exercise a bit after she retired, but her asthma made it difficult to take up the stationary bike in her condo complex.

I took a slightly different path from both my role models. I think I believed that exercise would be my ticket to aging gracefully with a fighting chance to stay active & healthy in the process. I have danced all my life. Until about 10 years ago I would dance 2 or three times a week. In the last few years swimming which has always been a sport I loved has become my regular exercise. I plan to continue to be active as long as possible.

I have been lucky, too & have been pretty healthy. Therefore, I was taken by surprise by a sprained ligament which seemed to heal followed by what turns out to be a torn meniscus. I realize that, I have some of my mother's fight in me & I do not want to let my knee slow me down (I'm also in too much pain to let it continue without a fight!). So today I will have what seems to be a pretty routine operation that almost everyone knows someone who has had it & is now walking freely again. So I will hopefully be back to aging gracefully, kicking & dancing & blogging about the psychology of life regularly soon.

Saturday's Songs for the Soul: The Song Remembers When by Trisha Yearwood

Thought for the Day: As I went through my mental songbook for today's post I recalled a song I heard in Nashville by songwriter Hugh Prestwood. It is a wonderful story song about how songs can take us back to significant moments in time. When I searched for it on YouTube, I found 2 versions. The rendition by Trisha Yearwood is powerful & beautiful. I also included Prestwood's performance at the famous Bluebird Cafe in Nashville on April 5, 2013 during Tin Pan South Songwriter's Festival. His performance in the round with Even Stevens and Lari White, brings back memories for me of the great intimate performances by hit songwriters in the round (I saw Lari White there with her husband Chuck Cannon a few years ago & was able to speak with them after the show.). I decided to share both for your weekend enjoyment. What songs bring you back to special moments in your life?

#FF Friday's Fabulous Finds: Why We Sleep, SleepTexting, If Your Child Is A Bully & A Mental Health Crisis

Thought for the Day: I am glad that Friday is here. Hopefully, it will bring a restful weekend. Personally, I am preparing for a procedure for a torn meniscus. I am hoping that the procedure will not interrupt my blogging, but will keep you posted. On my Motivational Monday post, I will write some observations on the impact of reluctantly slowing down when a knee holds you back. Today a few articles on the importance of sleep & how modern life is encroaching on our sleep caught my attention. Therefore, today's Fabulous Finds include 3 articles on sleep. I also found an article & video on the crisis in Mental Health systems in Great Britain. Given the implementation of ObamaCare that is happening here in the USA as I type, I hope the planners of our health plan are learning from England's mistakes & building a strong mental health component. Finally, I found an article & video, also from Britain, on what to do if your child is a bully. Please share with others & let me know what you think of these finds.

Here they are:

1) Why do we sleep? To clean our brains, say US scientists by Ian Sample, Science correspondent at theguardian.com,

2) Texting during the day linked to less sleep, study says by by Jonathan Ore 

3) Chasing Slumber from Psychology Today By Mark Wolverton

4) From the BBC England's Mental Health Services In Crisis (Video & article)

4) What To Do If Your Child Is A Bully (Video & article)

Thursday's Psychology Trivia Answer: Why Doesn't IQ Predict Success?

Thought for the Day: Today's trivia answer raises some serious questions. If you were baking a pie & only put in 10% of the ingredients, the pie would not be very tasty. Are we making a similar mistake in how we are educating our children? On Tuesday, I told you that parents & teachers might want to come back for the answer to the Psychology Trivia Question. Tuesday's Trivia Question was:

Psychologists generally agree that among the ingredients for success:

        a)  IQ counts for roughly 10%, 
        b)  IQ counts for roughly 50%,
        c)   IQ counts for roughly 80%, or
        d)  IQ counts for roughly 90%

What did you think the answer was? Be honest. Even I was surprised by the answer. IQ accounts for a) roughly 10% of a person's success. If you thought it was more like 50 or 80%, there may be some good reasons for the mistake. IQ or your Intelligence Quota is a very good predictor of academic success & even for future salary; however, when other factors are taken into account, it is not the best predictor of overall success. Studies have found that other variables lead to successful careers. People tend to prefer to work with people whom they like more than with those who may be more intelligent. The IQ tests measure parts of intelligence, but have no bearing on others. 

In the book, Emotional Intelligence Daniel Goleman describes some of the attributes fnot covered well in IQ tests which may be better predictors of success, such as self awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, & social skills. How much time is spent in our schools fostering emotional intelligence? 

If 90% of success is not reflected in the variables measured by IQ tests, are schools missing the mark by focusing on standardized testing of reading, writing & math skills? Why are we not designing more programs that will build Emotional Intelligence? Would we be better off spending more time enhancing our children's social & emotional skills? The importance of teaching children how to deal with differences & learning how to respect one another may not only be important for reducing bullying in our schools, but also promoting our children's overall success in life. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this finding.


You can read more about Emotional Intelligence from these resources:
http://psychology.about.com/od/personalitydevelopment/a/emotionalintell.htm
Wayne Payne tends to be credited for coining the term in his doctoral thesis, A Study of Emotion: Developing Emotional Intelligence from 1985 [1]. However, prior to this, it had appeared in Leuner (1966).^[2]. Stanley Greenspan (1989) also developed an EI model, as did Peter Salovey and John Mayer (1989),^[3] and Daniel Goleman (1995).

Wednesday's Wake Up Moments: Thank You Congress

Thought for the Day: It feels a bit like July 4th in October. It has been a long time coming, but finally Congress has awakened & the shutdown of the government is over. It is unfortunate that a near economic collapse was necessary to get government back open & raising the debt ceiling. I hope that it will lead to an atmosphere of greater respect & cooperation in Washington DC & that we will not have a repeat performance in February. I spent most of the day working on some new therapeutic services that I will be offering soon & just learned about the agreement. More to come soon on the new programs.