Tag Archives: balance

How Dealing with Cancer is Like Building a House

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by Christie Perkins

If you have ever built a house you know the deep ditch neuro pathways you carve from overthinking details.

You even sometimes dream about the process… or have nightmares.

“She turned to the sunlight And shook her yellow head,And whispered to her neighbor_ _Winter is dead.”(1)You have lived in other places and you quickly categorize what you like and don’t like. You adopt and adapt from previous experience the things you should do for the next house. But some things you take for granted, like the placement of plugs. You don’t really think about those details because someone else does the thinking for that.

Unless you’ve had a bad experience with that.

In my last house I had one light switch in a bedroom that was vacationing halfway down the wall. Ok. Maybe not that far. But, you would practically jab your armpit with the door frame before you found the switch… and I always prayed that a spider wasn’t playing boogie man as I felt the wall.

That’s crawly (not to mention creepy). Continue reading →

When Positivity Goes Kerplunk

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by Christie Perkins

So I’m living in some crazy warped time zone. It comes with the territory of “cancer news” I suppose. In the easy-load-mode I’m scheduling my daily “to do’s” and suddenly I’m thrust into the cancer twilight zone.

It’s eerie.

When PositivityIt’s eerie because the days are long. In my normal world I’ve found myself wishing to squeeze more hours out of the day. Cancer news becomes that wish granter. It’s very generous at stretching out the days. Nice little guy.

So, suddenly I find myself saying, “Wow! Was that just yesterday? It seems so long ago.” Time is no longer my own. Oh boy, is it not at all. Faceless strangers begin writing their little memos on my to do list: doctors, phone calls, return calls, surgeries, temporary kid shifting (thank you all), check ups, check outs, checkbook hocking procedures followed by twisted facial locking procedures. Continue reading →

The Key To Better Relationships: Stop & Refocus

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by Christie Perkins

A while back I prayed to find out what I needed to do to be a better mom (that was the gist of the prayer anyway). I wanted a little more mojo between us. Not that the kids and I had a bad relationship but I just wanted more relationship superglue before the teenage years hit. S A I L O R SC L U BYes, I wanted that uber connection-greed associated with moms and their midget genetic counterparts. A specific thought entered my mind:

…get off the computer when the boys get home.

Ah, yes.

Bingo. It was a good idea. I could see the benefit of this counsel. Sometimes those thoughts come and I shift my head back, turn my chin slightly to the side, and scrunch one eyebrow. That? That’s the answer? But not this time. This made perfect sense. Continue reading →

If Pumpkins Can Smile, So Can You

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The Happy Pumpkin Parable

by Christie Perkins

So, I found this pumpkin at the pumpkin patch. He was smiling. No one got a hold of him and forced him to smile but by natures own undertaking he was sharing a genuine smile.

howperkyworks.com (2)A real, unforced, uncarved smile.

I just had to bring him home with me so I bought the little guy and I let his attitude rub off on me. Yes, I understand it is just a pumpkin. Not a thing with actual feelings, or moments of frazzle, bad attitudes, or glorious moments of pizzaz. I get that. But there was something magical about him.

His smile was catchy. He smiled when we fought, when we had a bad day, when the house was a mess; when my piano music was off beat. He wasn’t mocking he was just seeing the good when maybe I couldn’t.

I’m a fan of this genuine little pumpkin man.

Continue reading →

Just do 7 things a week

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Making Lists

By Christie Perkins

I read a book by Stephen R. Covey many years ago that changed the way I spend my week. Since I’m a textbook nerd I’ll skip the high tech definitions and get right to the point. You’ll appreciate the shortcut version, I’m sure.

2014 Fish Lake with Paxtons 207But first you must know I’m a huge list maker. I thrive off lists. It’s not so much the list that I like but it’s the check marks that complete me. I like to feel productive. It’s my twisted sugar rush.

So you must know that list making can be a bit of a problem. On one particular unproductive day I couldn’t stand the fact that I wasn’t getting anything done so I actually created a list that I could check off the things I had already done that day. Oh, what a pitiful list. When you have to actually write down brush your teeth and get dressed as a “to do” item you can assume my noon to moon list was doomed to other menial tasks.

So, yep, it was lame. Continue reading →

Sure Fire Ways To A More Balanced Life

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How to Find Balance After Chemo and Radiation

by Christie Perkins

Fish Lake with Paxtons 041Finding balance after a major setback can be frustrating. After I finished chemo and radiation I believed that life would spring back to “normal” for me.

Preconceived notions are quite humorous. Yep. Hilarious.

For the entire year after treatments I found myself laying on the ground more than I was walking gracefully on any kind of balance beam. Oh, I would get up but it wasn’t long before I was toppling over…

And dreaming peacefully about falsified energy zings & things. Then I’d wake up more behind. “Be patient with yourself,” my doctor would tell me over and over. I was tired of being patient. Hadn’t I spent the entire year before being patient? Continue reading →

The Famous Yes or No Dilemma

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Do You Tell Your Mom No?

by Christie Perkins

“Do you tell your Mom no?”  I squared up to my preschool child.  His beautiful eyes and sweet smile weren’t getting him out of this one.  No way.

“Yes,”  he said matter of factly.Perkins Family 08-12 01-13 037

Obviously he didn’t get it.

I don’t even remember the misbehavior now but I was trying to nip the sassy fast.  He stood still watching me with the whites of my eyes widening and the tip of my finger aimed at his nose.  I’m not really sure what pointing does but it seems to be a 4 star travel agent of discipline: it’s the quick, fast, cheaper method.

One more time.  I pronounced the words more slowly.  I guess, technically, I should have used the word “should” instead of “do,” but this technique comes at a higher leveled thinking.

Um, yeah.  That’s it. Continue reading →