The stuff you don't see.

People that suffer with inflammatory bowel disease really become masters of disguise. We never talk about it, because we probably don't feel like discussing bloody poop all the time, not to mention its mostly internal, so you do not see our pain.  This stirs up a lot of internal conflict, feeling like a hypocrite all the time. 

See those pictures of me out at the lake?  I didn't include that part where I needed to swallow a whole box full of immodium just to get out of my apartment for the day. 

Do I seem a little quiet or a little grumpy at the dinner table?  Probably because the food you put in front of me is trying to work its way through my narrowed intestines and it's currently hard for me to breathe.

Do I seem really shifty and anxious all of a sudden, pacing, etc?  My abdomen is probably tensing up because I'm going to have a pain attack in 20 minutes.  Sorry but at this point anything you say to me is going in one ear and right out the other.  I'm in fight or flight at this point and my mind won't function right until I (literally) get this out of my system.  This REALLY sucks I'm  at the bank teller, or on the phone with someone, etc.   

You may have even seen Lane the cheery instructor teaching weightlifting at Freedom.  The part you don't know it that I may have only had half a smoothie that day because of my nausea.  Even if I had an appetite, I probably still starved myself that day so try avoid any pain attacks from happening while I'm coaching you.

This photo was taken two summers ago when I was dealing with a perianal fistula and abscess, which is supposed to be as painful as childbirth (difference is childbirth doesn't last for 3 months).  The only way I got out of the house was being WHACKED out on dilaudid, which is 8x stronger than morphine.  I soon became a depressed, opiate addicted vegetable.  What you see or hear from me isn't always the full story....

My simple solution for those who don't have time to exercise:

Step 1)  Keep track of all the time you spend looking at a screen in one day.  This includes your phone, television, tablet, or computer.  Obviously if you work at a computer that time doesn't apply.  But this does include whipping out your phone just to look at it or text.  Record your daily total.

Step 2)  Repeat this every day for one week.  Record all of it!

Step 3)  Add up your weekly total.

Step 4)  Look at it and decide if you really have time or not.

Two of my favorites.

“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”

-Jim Rohn

"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people."
-Elanor Roosevelt 

Think about those for a bit.  These are quotes that I really buy into and live by.  The first one couldn't be more true, the next one really makes you think about the things you say, and they both make you think about the people you spend your time with.  

What is it that you aspire to be?  Do the people in your life have the traits and habits you want to have?  

Do you, or the people you choose to be around spend your time gossiping?  Is Facebook your go-to every time you have a spare 10 minutes to look at your phone?  We're all guilty of it in some capacity, but these are definitely traits of small minds.

Does the quality of the conversation peak at the discussion of recent weather events, or what happened on last nights TV show.  "Sure has been rainy."  Wow, how enlightening.  I realize it's something everyone brings up once or twice if its significant enough, but again, is it the peak of your discussion?  

Or you do and the people in your life talk about ideas, challenges, opportunities, new concepts, challenging the status quo? Problems, solutions, debates, etc. 

Anyways that's my .02 for the morning.