“Though my mind is quite flexible,
These brittle bones don’t bend”
Jimmy Buffet (1981)
...and the title of the song from which these lyrics are taken, is perfectly applicable to me...
“Growing Older but Not Up”
As usual, the motivation behind this post is a recent event...
In this case, an appointment with a podiatrist.
In the treatment of an infection, a significant part of my toenail was removed. A concern about the possibility of another toe having been fractured, was also expressed. Mercifully that hasn’t proved to be the case. It would however have been a real example of an unbending “brittle bone”
In the accident, in addition to bumping my head, I fractured my back, neck, and arm. In the years prior to that time, I have also managed to break quite a few other bones.
The second line of the opening quotation, is most definitely, true!
“What on earth has this got to do with brain injury?”
Read on, regarding the first quotation...
Is this one also, right?
As I have said in previous posts, a (quiet) life, with a real sense of routine, is very helpful, to my mental wellbeing.
But why?...
· Familiarity with what I do/when I do it promotes a sense of comfort
· I am now troubled with executive dysfunction, meaning that I find planning and organization to be harder. Adoption of a regular routine assists me with this
· As you are aware, I must deal with significant post-injury memory issues.
Adoption of a regimented life can reduce a failure to remember what I ought to be doing
· Mental fatigue management is assisted, by a spacing out of taxing activity within my weekly routine
A tool which assists me with properly structuring a “routine week”, is a self-composed, documented, and weekly planner.
In this, I set out, for the morning, afternoon, and evening of each day, my proposed, headline activities.
Whenever I prepare a new planner, I find that certain items often don’t need to be changed from week to week. More information than you need; but my main shopping day is a Monday, and bedding is changed on a Thursday.
....and there are plenty more things (both work and play) that take place within an almost, pre-allocated, space in my planner.
All well and good ...
BUT
This is far from perfect, for me.
It begs the question of, what happens when some factor interferes with my regular routine?
And here’s where the toe comes in ...
My planner always contains a significant number of sporting activities, that are undertaken at regular times throughout the week.
On Wednesdays and Fridays, I attend the gym with a care worker. On Thursday evenings, I usually go for a tandem ride. Then it is my running club on a Friday morning, and parkrun on a Saturday.
For a while, my toe prevented me from doing all of this. As you might imagine, this was a significant departure from my usual weekly routine, which left quite a few holes in my planner.
As I have said before, meaningful occupation has an important role to play in the maintenance of my mental health.
While taxing activities need to be spaced out, I am not very good at all, with pure downtime.
For me, these newfound holes in my weekly planner should (at least, in part) have been filled. Better to be doing things, rather than sitting around feeling sorry for myself!
To my shame this only took place to a limited extent.
I found it rather difficult to adopt a meaningful departure from my regular routine....
EG Friday is a gym day. I couldn’t possibly read a book, play some music, or get on with housework (not)!
As a result, I found the loss of sporting activities to be rather unsettling
And there are plenty of other examples of this kind of issue...
So, as illustrated by my recent foot problems, I can indeed be inflexible.
As things stand, the first line does not always, reflect my thoughts; and I don’t help myself by a slavish adherence to my default planner. It isn’t of course the case, that every week must look identical to another.
Of course, a planned alternative course of action (EG a medical appointment) will force a one-off amendment; but the unexpected might occur, which renders a departure from the default planner.
If such a thing happens (which renders a commonly planned activity impossible, or otherwise inappropriate) simply leaving a gap, with no alternative, does not feel like a good thing for me.
I therefore need a “plan B”, to cover empty spaces, and facilitate greater flexibility.
Given that I don’t find it too easy to come up with an idea on the spur of the moment, a bit of forward planning seems to make sense.
Perhaps it would help to make a list of alternative activities, to narrow down the choice. I would imagine that I will usually be able to pick something from that list, to fill any unexpected spaces in my usual routine.
Hence, a bit more flexibility...
A couple of days after the appointment, this was the state of my left foot:
