Musical Motivation Monday – April 8th

 Musical Motivation Monday – by Heather Stewart
 
Here we are again. I am sorry I wasn’t here last week. I have been in pain that has left me thinking about trying to stay motivated through the pain and how to keep mobile. I had intended to write about just that last week, staying motivated through the pain, but even I am having difficulty with that. I even asked some friends how they do it and the answers they gave me, at the time, didn’t seem to help.
This week I went to physical therapy and we started talking about pain and what it does to our brains and then it dawned on me. There is always pain in everyone’s lives. Not just physical pain but emotional and spiritual. I remembered some words spoken to me by a wonderful man I choose to call Dad (Rev. Dr. Thom White Wolf Fassett) essentially, you must have peace in some part of your life otherwise something must change. I have been focused on motivation for physical things and not the entire person. In revisiting the advice of my dear friends Carol and Catherine they had said just that – to stay motivated through the pain by addressing the other aspects of being.
Those of us with AS tend to face loss repeatedly, loss of our health, loss of our ability to work, loss of our friends, loss of mobility and through it all we try to remind ourselves, “that is not all that I am”. I lost sight of that in my efforts to provide motivation. This week, I challenge you to think about that statement “That is not all that I am” and meditate on that and that which brings peace to your life.


Heatherstewart2
 
Heather Stewart was a state champion baton twirler and champion dancer. During graduate school she started experiencing chronic pain & fatigue but even with a family history of AS, she was told people of color could not have AS. After seeing her grandfather’s Rheumatologist she was finally diagnosed. Heather channels her active mind with floral arrangement, crocheting, scrapbooking, volunteering, singing in a barbershop chorus, reading, spending time with family, playing with her dogs and quilting. Heather Stewart is the author/coach for our Musical Motivation Monday blog.
Heather is one of our Walk Ambassadors & Team Captain of The Rockin’ Weebles!

4 thoughts on “Musical Motivation Monday – April 8th

  1. Joy Last says:

    Heather I read an interesting book recently about pain. The Pain Chronicles. It explores pain on many levels. It. Might interest you.

  2. Heather says:

    Thanks Joy! I am looking into Explain Pain – it’s a book my Physical Therapists were discussing during my session.

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