The Resolute Woman

Category: stress

  • Keep grounded

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    by

    resolutewoman
    in , ,

    In the middle of the second week of helping take care of my seriously ill brother-in-law, I was feeling completely overwhelmed by the craziness of hospitals and doctors, by trying to help keep track of 14 medications and the number of milligrams of sodium for a low-salt diet and by a patient who wasn’t always…

  • “Resilient optimism”

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    by

    resolutewoman
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    Laura Hillenbrand tells the story of Louis Zamperini in her book Unbroken—A World War II Story of Survival, Reislience and Redemption. Louie’s story is incredible. It starts as a tale of an untamable boy who gained notoriety from his pranks and thefts. Louie was a runner at the Olympics in Berlin in 1936 before he…

  • Take care of yourself, too

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    by

    resolutewoman
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    When I first learned that my daughter Ranna would have to go back to the hospital, I thought first about myself. “Oh, no,” I said to myself. “You can’t go back to the hospital. I can’t handle any more doctors or hospitals.” Then, of course, I felt guilty. I was thinking about myself, and I…

  • Is it still a happy new year?

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    by

    resolutewoman
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    I had been telling myself that my daughter Ranna’s medical problems were ending and that this year would be the start of her healing. I still am convinced that this year will be a new beginning for Ranna. But the new beginning is not going to happen immediately. Ranna already has spent six days in…

  • “Happy in spite of”

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    by

    resolutewoman
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    I must admit that the automobile accident I described in our last blog post and the dismal reality of the cost of a new car have thrown me into a January, beginning-of-the-year, end-of-the-holidays depression. Everyone gets depressed sometimes. And, sometimes, only time is the cure. I am reminded, however, of one of the lessons from…

  • A perfect afternoon

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    by

    resolutewoman
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     I picked a perfect afternoon to visit the horse rescue where my daughter, Mary Elizabeth, volunteers. Even though it was January, it was sunny and the temperature climbed to 65. I walked slowly, deliberately, encumbered by my borrowed mud boots, which were just a bit too big, around the ranch, stopping to admire the patience…

  • What if you didn’t have a perfect holiday?

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    by

    resolutewoman
    in ,

    What if your new recipe flopped? What if there was conflict between two people you love? What if you were ill or sad about the recent death of a loved one? Joy remembers Christmas 2010 when she spent Christmas Day in bed with pneumonia, with only enough strength to make a brief appearance for Christmas…

  • A holiday reminder from Joy

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    by

    resolutewoman
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    I had just enough time to stop at the post office to mail a birthday package. After I finished dropping the box in the chute at the self-serve counter, I looked at my watch and then turned around quickly to head for my car. Yikes! I almost knocked over a woman walking with a cane.…

  • Refilling my cup

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    by

    resolutewoman
    in ,

    I had arrived 15 minutes early for my meeting with Joy, and I had some work I wanted to finish before our appointment. I knew that I could sit in the car and finish the work. However, as I pulled the papers out of my tote bag, I noticed the leaves gently blowing on a…

  • Gift from the Sea

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    by

    resolutewoman
    in ,

    Because I’m feeling a little harried this week, I was thinking about our last blog post and about how it’s important to take mini-vacations. It suddenly occurred to me that I  don’t want a mini-vacation. I would like to take a long vacation! It’s not going to happen. Instead, I started looking for a little…