DryFeb: Day 1

Should I start this off by admitting my “cheat” strategy? Here’s what I did last year and what I have put in place this year as a celebratory measure, should it be employed/necessary.

I did not have any alcohol on Monday, January 31st and DryFeb, for me, means being alcohol-free for 28 days! So this “cheat” means that if I wish to have a celebratory drink on the last day (Monday, February 28th) then I will! Judge if you must but being alcohol-free is a feat worthy of cheers!

Day 1: Tuesday, February 1st

Started the day by weighing myself. I will be sharing a + or - result once per week (every Tuesday) but no totals will be given because weight isn’t my favourite topic of conversation. I would like to lose a couple pounds this month and am curious to see if a lack on alcohol consumption will do anything for me in that respect.

Health benefits of Dry Feb

By signing up for a Dry Feb, not only will you be raising funds for the Canadian Cancer Society, but you could feel some great personal health benefits too.

Each year participants report sleeping better, having more energy and being more productive!

Here are some of the benefits you could experience by going dry this Feb:

Sign up for Dry Feb (source: DryFeb.ca)

I also had my first assessment with a new Athletic Therapist downtown. She is very awesome and our first session gives me hope for pain management and “prehab” structure which will help me post operation.

I’m at work now and we have a new contest goin’ which keeps us hosts incredibly busy so I hope to be posting about DryFeb a few times per week throughout the month.

If you want to see what being alcohol-free does for your overall health, join our team! We’re called the Dry Babies and we’ve already nearly met the halfway part of our fundraising goal! Joining is no-obligation, free and fun. You can be dry for as long or as little as you are comfortable.

Avoiding Negativity for 12 Days: a reasonable goal?

Things are opening back up.

Restrictions are easing.

Vaccines are more accessible. Pills are coming.

The canal is open.

Thinking about some of the negative things I’ve experienced lately and/or been witness to has me shifting focus. Focusing on things that aren’t negative (they don’t have to be overtly positive, just not nasty) is going to be my goal for the rest of the month. Sure, it’s only twelve days… but trying to stay away from the negative for any length can be a difficult task.

Does doing so manifest ‘good’?

I don’t know. I’m not so sure. I think a situation is what you make it or, at least, how you react to it. I’ve been slowly piecing together a ‘community’ of disabled women to follow on Instagram, which has been so wonderful. People who share my experiences as a young person living with rheumatoid arthtirits.

Work is going pretty good, too. I was happy to get back into the studio now that the kids are back to ‘in person learning’. This will be a blip in the timeline of our lives as we get older, I hope. Working from home is a privilige but it’s exciting to be able to fully perform in a way only a host can from the control room.

One of my original videos has received nearly 1.5 million views. I made the mistake of checking that out (I’ve never had such online ‘success’) and some of the comments were… well, you know! So, yeah…. back to my original point:

It’s going to be tough to stay away from the negative for the next twelve days but it’s worth a shot.

What does ‘staying away’ mean? Here’s my guideline that I am completely making up as I go:

• No reading the comments when I am not physically at work.

• No searching for or through old social media posts.

• Avoid or ignore inflammatory situations (online and IRL).

• Get outside.

• Have more conversations with friends.

• Plan for something exciting.

I’m not going to try and be positive or sunny or bright because life just isn’t like that. I’m going to try and avoid the negative, which is doable.

Risky Business

Autoimmune diseases turn our bodies into self-destructive machines. It’s exhausting, having an immune system in overdrive FIGHTING ITSELF. I take medicine to stop the fight which lowers my ability to properly defend myself against actual threats: viruses, infections, etc.

If you have someone like me in your life and you want to keep them safe, you need to get vaccinated. If you don’t want to, stay away. I can only speak for myself when I say: If you aren’t vaccinated against COVID-19, I will actively avoid you.

You choose what you do with your body. I’ve been sick my whole life & it’s my choice to avoid a virus that would kill me. Thank you to all who’ve gotten the shot to keep people like me safe.

I spent 3 weeks in isolation at CHEO when I caught the chicken pox.

My immune system cannot defend itself because it’s suppressed. If it’s not suppressed, it will destroy all tissue (organs, bones, blood).

If you choose to not get vaccinated also choose to stay away from me.

What I’ve said might upset you. Heck, maybe you WANT to harm me/others. Maybe you don’t believe me and have your mind made up. If these tweets reach anyone whose uncertain about the shot: Please consider the young ones who have a hard enough time surviving.

Talk to your doctor or local public health nurse if you are hesitant. Make your own decision, for sure. Attempt empathy for others without immune systems. We exist. From small to tall.

Always do what’s right for you.

Everyone’s lived their own life & had their own experiences which help to form individual, personal opinions.

Having a different opinion is OK. Purposefully hurting others physically, verbally or spiritually because of an opinion is not OK.

Life’s all about risk; the ones you are and aren’t willing to take.

It’s been a calculated journey for me & my experiences have brought me to support vaccinations.

Your journey may be different.

I am hopeful that one day we can all be buds again, safely.