Recovery milestones

I've recently had a couple of truly inspiring e-mails from a teenager who did LP with me almost a year ago. It's a joy for me to read of her journey and all the changes she's made....and also some of the challenges she's dealt with. As she approaches her year 'anniversary' of doing LP she wants to celebrate! And I love the way she is planning to do this. She's going to make two collages: one showing all the things she's achieved during the past year and another one showing all the things she's going to be doing in the next year. Hope she sends me a photo of them!

I can remember my own recovery, and how, in the year after, I kept noticing things that I was doing for the first time since I was well: the first time I lifted the kettle and made Iain a cup of tea; the first time I shopped in a supermarket and hadn't got a clue what to do with my debit card and the machine thing, which had appeared at some point during my 9 ill years; the first time I drove a car; the first time I made a cake; the first time I ran on the beach; and one of the most significant milestones when I lifted my wheelchair onto the lorry that came to take it away! It's a precious time.....and it's really good for our brains when we celebrate the milestones, no matter how big or how small....emotion helps to secure those good feelings, and cement the delight in our brains.

Let's notice, celebrate, remember.