Onwards and Upwards No. 11
Hello my healing team,
I hope this update finds you well.
As I am sure you expected, my reintroduction to work has gone really well! When I arrived at work last Monday morning, I was a little concerned as my access pass no longer worked! Were they trying to tell me something? But my concerns were quickly dismissed as I had a kind face in Jade (from HR) meet me at reception to welcome me back!! Actually, the kind welcomes continued all the way through Monday, into Tuesday and Thursday and petered out with the last one coming at about 1:27pm yesterday (in week two). I feel thoroughly welcomed!!
It has been a great experience returning to work. Reconnecting with friends and colleagues, many whom I had not seen for 12 months has been a pleasure. It has also been refreshing to engage the brain in my work environment, thinking about people, projects and clients. I am very grateful that GHD (not the hair straightener company) has afforded me the flexibility to renter the workplace and continue my rehabilitation, enabling me to take another step towards my new normal. At home, we now have the routine established with the kids back at school and doing their after school activities, Sarah and I at work, and Ollie dog doing whatever he wants!! A high five goes to Riley for winning his three races at the school swim sports. However, I do feel as though he has an unfair advantage with his size 200 feet being bigger than flippers.
A refreshing aspect about returning to work is the installation of a routine. Whilst a routine can be boring, I use it to provide structure to my day so then it makes doing the hard things easier. I use this structure to establish a plan that I can be more rigid about sticking to. Firstly, I make sure I have included the things I need to do. I use the routine to help me exercise when I am feeling low on energy, to help me write when all I can scribe is invisible words, to help me get out of bed when I am feeling fatigued and to help me eat well (and at planned times) when I just want to eat that family size block of Cadburys Dairy Milk Chocolate ten minutes before dinner.
Secondly, but most importantly, I use the routine to make sure I am planning to doing the fun things like hanging out with friends, getting to the kids school and sports activities, like scheduling in that regular date night (I put that in for brownie points, but it could easily backfire. Watch this space). With a routine, I feel ok about resting as I know I have done a good days work. I can prioritise mediation because I know it is in the plan. I can eat a bit of chocolate because I know I have eaten well earlier in the day. My routine helps me achieve what I need to and feel that sense of accomplishment. It can be a little boring at times, but for me, it works.
Take care
Geoff
