Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Bulletin Board Material...Motivation



I am a big believer in visualization.  For example, when I used to play baseball in high school and college I put up motivational signs or goals to look at every day.  This helped remind me of my objectives and visualize a successful outcome.  I even do this today regarding my yearly performance metrics or business targets.  Some may think this is silly, but I really do believe it can help encourage you to reach your goals.


So I have taken this practice and applied it to what Lindsey, Bexley, and I are facing with her disorder and treatment.  I have the following checklist up in Bex’s nursery to help push us to keep working with her to prevent spasms and improve her developmental areas:  gross motor skills, fine motor skills, etc.






I know this is “sports” themed, but being a competitive person and former ballplayer this resonates with me.  I can explain each bullet point to help illustrate how it applies to Bex if that helps...


Pregame Prayer – Before you take the field, or before we take on the day, we should pray for the strength to do our best.  Bex deserves nothing but the best and we need certainly need help from above.


Stay Within Yourself – Don’t try to do too much!  Basically, don’t press or push yourself.  Right now we can’t cure Infantile Spasms…but we can work on certain things with Bex that can limit or even prevent damage/delay.


Compete on Every Play – Never give up, even when you hit a dribbler to the pitcher. You run hard and never assume you’re automatically out.  The same can be said with our effort with Bex.  Even if it’s a simple task like helping her play with toy rings to work on transferring…don’t take it for granted because this could be critical for helping her develop.


Pick Each Other Up – You are part of a team and sometimes you have a rough day at the plate.  That is when you need your teammates to pick you up.  Lindsey and I are a team and we know there are going to be days where one of us will struggle, but that is when the other needs to step up and provide support.  There is no “I” in Team Bex.


Learn from the Losses – There will be days we lose…whether it’s a day Bex doesn’t want to cooperate with exercises/play time or a doctor’s appointment that isn’t the most optimistic.  You take those losses and you figure out how to do better the next time.  We shouldn't be discouraged.  We just have to be realistic and learn from the experience so we can hopefully have a better outcome the next time.


Celebrate the Wins… - And most importantly, when Bex has a great day or hits a milestone or we get great news from a Dr’s appointment, we need to party like its 1999.  There is nothing wrong with enjoying victory and when you put in hard work you deserve that celebration.  However, you also need to quickly look at the next opponent…or milestone to go after!


I don’t mean to be the prototypical jock with this list, but I do think it works for me...and Lindsey agreed it works for her too!  That is one thing I love about my wife...she is just as competitive as me.  In the end, if it helps keep us motivated then that is all that matters.  Besides, I always loved playing sports because I was part of a team.  I can’t imagine a better team to be on than Team Bex!

#gobexgo

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