The Best is yet to come

Well unfortunately the last post was a dud. I was really looking forward to getting some feedback. Maybe it was the wrong songs. Anyway enough about that.

“The best is yet to come.” Lets think about that for a moment. How many times have you heard that comment or said that comment. Now take that number of times and ask yourself how many times that comment actually had a definition. Personally I have said it numerous times with good intentions but really did not know how to define it. Does it mean the weather for the week, the best car that you are waiting for to drive down the street? I have decided that I cannot live a life without direction any longer. I set myself goals for the day, the week, and the month. I think going any further than that personally is tough because life happen and you never know what can or will happen. My goals are specific, action oriented and beneficial to me both physically and emotionally.

A may or may not have mentioned this before. I lost my boonie hat that was issued to me when I was deployed for the first Gulf War. I was devastated and laughed at at the same time. The majority of people do not understand the thoughts and feelings that consume the minds of a TBI survivor. There are certain things that give us extreme comfort and have significant value in our every day life. When I had mentioned losing this hat to others I was literally laughed at and teased about it. “Aww poor guy lost his little hat” and other comments that I was not prepared to hear. I was not prepared because I thought that people would see that this was a legitimate concern when it comes to my happiness.

I have one other significant comfort item that I am kind of embarrassed to talk about, but I have always been honest so here goes nothing. Shortly after my injury my wife bought me a pillow that has those really really tiny Styrofoam balls in it. I had one before that was used enough to put a little hole in it and leak the foam balls from it.  So she bought me another one to help me with my head pain when I was lying down. The one she bought is a monkey. I have recovered from the head pain when lying down but I have to have that monkey with me when I go to sleep. You have to be thinking that I am like a child with their blanky. That’s ok with me. That thing gives me comfort when I try to sleep.

The point I am trying to make is that that boonie hat was lost for over 2 months and my goal was to find it no matter what. I set that goal everyday. I looked somewhere that I hadn’t looked the day before. I kept a little log book so I could remember where I looked so I could maximize my efforts. My hat was on in the  top compartment of my fishing bag. I had worn it when I took my daughter fishing and placed it in the bag at some point and forgot.Without giving myself that goal, I may not have found that hat until I stumbled upon it by accident.

I really didnt have a goal for my monkey, it is just another example of a comfort that I cannot do without. He occasionally will walk around the house and hide, but he is pretty easy to find. (yes I am kidding.)

That goal with the hat was my Best is Yet to Come until I found it. I knew if I stayed the course that I could find it. That was an action oriented goal for me that would make me feel better emotionally when accomplish it. People can not understand that, and I don’t expect them too. It is just the little goals that we normally keep to ourselves that make a big difference. Without these goals it is very easy to give up and just go with the flow. I am not wired that way. I want to continue my recovery. The drive and focus that I strive for daily will help me accomplish anything that I put my mind to. That is why the for me “the best is yet to come!!”