Motivation or lack there of!

Alina I think most survivors would struggle with motivation at some time during recovery. I spent nearly 4 months in hospital in2012 . I wanted to get home as soon as possible. My 4grandsons were my greatest  motivators. Photographs were pinned to the wall beside my bed. I was experiencing other feelings at the same time, enormous sadness ,grief,anger all with a lot of crying,.with the help of enableme I came to understand  this to emotional lability. No longer a problem. Keeping motivation going with all that heavy stuff was a struggle at times.  depressionhad to had to be dealt with. I am not aware of your circumstances so wonder if you are going through something similer. Relaxation tapes helped me greatly.Jenny

Hi Alina, 

I don't know your situation, whether you have physical problems or mental deficits, but I do know that you need to continue with your rehab. I am a 'walking talking' stroke survivor but I have aphasia. Then I started friends, colleagues and even relatives,

... sorry but EnableMe suddenly froze and I lost the rest of the post. Bummer ... it was quite long. 

Now, just a short post. 

I lost a lot of my ability to talk, read, listen, understand conversations and, total writing ability. That was my motivation. Without it, I would just be sitting a corner watching TV. 

What is important to you?

What are you missing?

Find it, and you find your motivation and then keep hold it. 

Marcus

Hi Alina

Hey you are in right space and place to find some motivating people here - I agree totally with both posts above.  Do you have anything in your days, weeks which you look forward to?  Look back before your stroke - what excited you, what motivated you then, is this still the same now or do you need to start looking for other motivators?

My respect for my health and my future motivated me always. My family, my yearning to belong and feel peace so that I was able to be a wife and mother who was present in my life.

It can be a very lonely and rocky road so good on you for reaching out!

I'd love to know more and how you are going, keep us in the loop.

All the best

Sue

Hi Alina

Hey you are in right space and place to find some motivating people here - I agree totally with both posts above.  Do you have anything in your days, weeks which you look forward to?  Look back before your stroke - what excited you, what motivated you then, is this still the same now or do you need to start looking for other motivators?

My respect for my health and my future motivated me always. My family, my yearning to belong and feel peace so that I was able to be a wife and mother who was present in my life.

It can be a very lonely and rocky road so good on you for reaching out!

I'd love to know more and how you are going, keep us in the loop.

All the best

Sue

Hi Alina,

The suggestions so far from the community are all fantastic with some wonderful questions to reflect on and ask yourself. You might also like to consider what are you passionate about? If Point A is where you are at now, what does Point B look like (where you would like to be)? Having goals that are important to you are also helpful to aim towards. Do you have a good support network? Utilising the enableme community and our Facebook page as a source of inspiration can help.

If you find that you have low mood, mood changes or fatigue affecting your recovery and motivation it can be useful to see a psychologist or rehabilitation team to work further on this as it may be impacting on your motivation.

Here are some other tips:

1. Set realistic goals (SMART - specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, time-framed).

2. Do something everyday (even if it is small) to work towards your goal/s.

3. Get support and call on friends and family who are motivating and encouraging to hold you accountable. Even if this means them going for a walk with you or taking you out.

4. Practice self-compassion. Don't beat yourself up in your recovery, you are likely to have highs and lows.

5. Visualise or imagine how you'll feel after you take action or do something that makes you feel good. It can help to visualise your future self that you're working towards after stroke.

6. Celebrate the small victories to motivate you to keep going and acknowledge how far you've come.

7. Work with a rehabilitation team for ongoing support, guidance and motivation.

If you wish to discuss anything further, don't hesitate to call StrokeLine on 1800 787 653 and keep drawing on the incredible support of the community.

Best wishes,

Simone (StrokeLine)

Hi Alina,

What did you enjoy pre -stroke?

Find an activity that you enjoyed pre-stroke and use that as motivation. It can be difficult at first but be determined and stick to it

I used to enjoy going to the local coffee shop with a few friends. Those friends stood by me and came to my place to help with home exercises. Eventually, when I was able to walk further that exercise turned into walking to the coffee shop with one or two of them  and rewarding myself with a favourite coffee and a friendly chat. At first it was very difficult to walk the distance so I'd stop and rest along the way. Now I am able to walk the whole distance 250 metres by myself , except for crossing the busy road. I look forward each week to my coffee mornings.

So what I recommend is to think of an activity which you enjoy and work towards doing that.

All the best

Anne