Mowing down challenges

Sometimes, our personal reality starts to shift, things start to change, and then, sometimes, it just keeps going. This seems to be one of those times.

The image above is something I posted to my personal Facebook yesterday. I clarified in the comments, “Just kidding about the nap—all I need is to sit and cool down (already had drinks of water),” but that’s pretty much all I had to say about it, unless you count explaining how I’d used up the lawn mower’s high-capacity battery due to the thick growth and high moisture.

Today, I added the rest of the story, and explained its importance. “Who dis?!!” I asked on my personal Facebook before laying out the story of my day:

Day two of outdoor action: First, I used the line trimmer along the entire boundary in the back, and along the perimeter of the house itself. Used it to chop at weeds on the slight bank that leads from the “lawn” up to the fence along the west-ish boundary (aka “Leo’s Domain” because he runs back and forth barking at his friends next door, even when they’re not outside). Finished up one battery and started another to complete the job, then went inside for a rest.

Round 2: Took the line trimmer out front, went along the front of the house and did one side boundary, and part way round the damn “rain garden” (looks like a concrete cattle water trough, and is for catching heavy rain runoff; I hate the damn thing) before the battery died. Went and got my third and last 18v battery, which has a much lower capacity. It died before I finished the final side boundary. Oh, well.

Then I mowed the front lawn, using the second 36v battery from yesterday, but still didn’t use it up. I put mower & trimmer away, then grabbed my outside broom and swept the clippings from the footpaths and driveway (WTF?!).

I also did two loads of laundry and loaded and ran the dishwasher. Also charged up the batteries I drained (all using solar power, of course).

I mention all this not so people will tell me how awesome I am (I mean, the fact that I’m awesome is obvious!), but to make a point: Absolutely NONE of this would’ve been possible a few weeks ago. This ability to get shit done is only possible because I insisted on changing my blood pressure medication. Since it’s now been five weeks (as of today), I feel confident in saying the change has made a huge difference. Things aren’t perfect by any means, but they could well get better still. And even if they don’t, things are now good enough that I can get shit done. Right now, that’s good enough.

The lessons for me: Advocate for myself and my health. Manage my expectations to avoid disappointment, sure, but mainly to capitalise on what’s good. And most importantly, never f*cking give up. I’m tired (good tired) now, but also feeling vindicated—and just a wee bit proud of myself.

One thing I didn’t mention in that story is that I also had to load new filament in the line trimmer, something I last did in December last year, and that I could only do after finding a YouTube video showing the process (I have no idea where the manual is; Nigel and I bought the trimmer in 2018, I think). It didn’t go smoothly, exactly, but I got there in the end, and without going to watch the video again.

Actually, the fact that I remembered how to change load new filament, and without having to re-watch the video, is likely also related to the medication change, because the first thing I notices is that the brain fog I’d complained about seemed to have improved as soon as I started the new medication, something I described a couple weeks ago as me feeling “brighter”. It’s also the reason I was able to decide to sell the garden shed I never assembled. Remembering (some) things and being (somewhat) better able to decide (some) things is, I believe, also related to the medication change.

And, so what if I’m wrong? What if, even after five weeks, this is an illusion, or placebo effect or whatever. Even if the worst is true, I still got my lawns mowed and other things done. And, overall, I feel better than I have in many months. Look: Things aren’t perfect, and I’m not trying to pretend they are, but the difference is remarkable, and I’ll take it. I’ll let the future take care of itself.