Tools for Survival

In watching Mom deal with her highly disruptive if not potentially life-threatening illnesses, I've noticed a few rules of survival that have helped her face adversity.

1. You are what you wear. 

I am not a big proponent that clothing and cosmetics "make" a woman.  I think it's a rather vacuous and shallow assessment of a woman's worth.  However, I do know that they can make a woman feel polished and put together.  For Mom, how she looks in public is at the core of her very being.  She takes tremendous pride in wearing nice clothes with appropriate accessories.  In part, it's her background.  She grew up in an era when that was the norm.  In part, it's validation that she has worth in this world.  In the privacy of her home, she doesn't mind "shlumping" around in super comfy clothes, but always makes sure her hair is coiffed.  When she is ill, all bets are off until that day when she looks in the mirror and says, "Flo, pull it together."  So today, three days out of the hospital, she's getting her hair done.   (Praise God for hair coloring and curlers!)

2. Don't think about the yucky. 

Mom has an uncanny ability to keep the yucky stuff of life at arm's length.   She simply chooses not to dwell on it, get emotional about it or even think about it.  Some stuff she literally forgets, others things she has deeply buried occasionally bubble to the surface.  In any event, her childlike approach to life has served her well.

3. Organization keeps the brain tidy.
 
Mom takes quite a few drugs to keep her heart pumping.  She now has a few more added to battle her recent infections.  As confused and weak as she was when she left the hospital, she was able to turn to her trusty yellow pad as a safe landing place.  There she added the new drugs to the list and dutifully checks off her meds daily as she takes them.  Her house is very organized in other ways to help her navigate turmoil and provide peace in a chaotic world.

4. Reading trumps television.
 
My mother should have been a professional reader, if there is such a job.  This woman reads, reads, reads.  It keeps her mind sharp and makes life interesting.

5. Doctors are gods (unless she has read an article with info she thinks they might not know)

If the doctor said so, then it must be true.  Having said that, she reads tons of stuff on natural health and nutrition.  And her doctors give her bemused looks when she walks into their office with a manila folder of articles for them to read on medical issues that affect her.

As successful as her tools for survival have served her, she's missing the biggest tool from her tool box ~ a relationship with Jesus Christ.  That relationship would add hope to her arsenal, and hope is what keeps us going when all else fails.  It would also add the unmatched power of healing from the Creator Himself.  Without Him, she's doing it all in her own energy and strength.