In the movie “The Martian”, astronaut/botanist Mark Watney is left behind by his crew who think he died in a freak storm accident. In his efforts to get home alive, he has to solve problem after problem: Contact NASA Ration food Grow food Make water Leave Mars Intercept with crew Slow down Speed up Etc…
People have certain aspects of life that over time become “the norm”. As kids, we go to school, play with friends, ride bikes, and just have fun. As adults, we go to work, manage our homes, help our kids with schoolwork and hopefully find time and energy to have a little fun too. Chronic pain…
I recently wrote about Optimistic Realism, being hopeful for good things but honest with yourself about the challenges that currently exist. Being optimistic and having a positive attitude are not the same thing. They can work together, but they are inherently different. Optimism looks to the future for a positive outcome. A positive attitude gives…
"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music." ~Friedrich Nietsche At one point, I had 135 symptoms related to Lyme and tick diseases that I've talk about with medical doctors who both treat disease and try to ease the symptoms. I’ve realized there are…
When I was 2 years old, we had a fish tank. A mama fish had given birth and my parents put the babies in a small bottle inside the tank to separate them from the bigger fish (so they wouldn’t get eaten). My parents were having a “discussion” in the kitchen one day. I wanted…
Urban Dictionary defines an optimistic realist as “Someone who is able to look at the positive side of life while maintaining a realistic viewpoint. People sometimes confuse my realist outlook for pessimism because I always want to understand the worst case scenario. That doesn’t mean I am resigned to accepting the bad. It means I…
In the two months prior to coming to Biologix (this trip), I was basically bedridden. I spent a lot of time crying and feeling literally like my body was dying. The ability to come here was an immeasurable gift of love. Gods timing is never off and this is no different. The process of healing…
Sometimes being a caretaker is harder than being a patient. This role is one of the absolute most critical components to being sick comfortably. No - being sick is not comfortable. It’s hard. It’s almost unbearable at times. But it can become impossible without a solid support team. The head pain, body pain, weakness, frailty,…
We all start out thinking this is temporary. We believe some doctor or potion will eventually get us back to the state of normalcy to which we have become accustomed. So when does that change? At what point during sickness do we shift to the mindset that it may not happen. And what causes that…
Saying grace before meals is a common practice among most Christians. There are a lot of reasons we do this - glorifying God by acknowledging his gift of provision is usually the big one. But did you know God has a more individual, physical reason for saying grace? That’s right - you heard me -…
PhilippiJoy 