NDIS – & so it Begins

I applied for and was successful in getting an NDIS plan. We are self-managing the plan, and yesterday had a meeting with our local area co-ordinator, so we all know what we have to do next.

I made some phone calls yesterday, and have got the first thing happening, which is good. Talking to someone who understands the whole NDIS thing, with the relevant forms to fill in and so on works much better that blindly trying to get things happening, without knowing if they’re things that will be paid for …

There is money there, and while I may not be able to get what I was hoping for, there will be other things available that I hadn’t realised could be paid for. This is a good thing, having money from the government is what we all pay taxes for, and we all deserve to get what we are allowed, when we need it.

I am thinking about the possiblities, while waiting to receive back more information, and in the meantime, I’m enjoying myself, doing one of my favourite things – writing poetry. I have joined up of a thing called #poemadayfeb, where interested poets write a new poem every day in February.

The people who have organised this, did it last year too, and I thank them for their work. They have written a list of poem prompts, one for every day of February, and then two extra ones, just in case. So every day, at some stage of the day, I check out what the ‘prompt’ is for this. Then I settle down and write my new poem.

The poems I’ve done so far have been interesting … A variety of poetic styles, & subjects, with some themes re-emerging as I’ve gone on, climate change is there more that once, family too, and some quite personal things.

I am letting at all come out onto the page, and then editing to make it beautiful, honest, authentic … Then I am putting them onto my Writers blog here
I plan to put all of these poems into a little chap book, to sell to my adoring fans (both of them), for a teeny, tiny price! Haha, the life of a poet is not that of a wealthy person, that’s for sure. Not wealthy in monetary terms anyway, but is experieces and understanding, very rich.

I am living a good life, with many positive things happening. I think the most important thing about me and my life is that I am Chronically Positive!

Things to be Proud Of

Having things to be proud of is great in life. Whether the ‘things’ are actions you’ve taken, or races you’ve run, or anything really, it’s great, and makes you feel good.

Pride is one of the ‘7 Deadly Sins’ but the pride I’m talking about, is the good way you feel when you’ve done something good, and especially if others have seen that good thing, and are proud of you for it too. That is certainly not a sinful thing.

Gaining the approval of others is not the only reason, should never be the only reason to do good things. Being proud of yourself is enough, and you should always acknowledge to yourself, the good things you do.

When you are troubled by illness, or with any kind of disability, it is still important to have things to be proud of yourself for doing, or being. If you are badly affected, sometimes it’s the simple things in life that will stand in, as things to be proud of.

I remember somedays, if times with my MS have been troublesome, I will tell myself I’m proud just because I made it to the toilet without wetting my pants!

But I am able to do so much more than that, and at the moment I am extremely proud of myself for the writerly things I’m doing. At the start of the year, on News Years Eve, I decided that I wasn’t going to do the New Years resolutions, but instead, that I would have a GREAT YEAR for all of 2019, and I would do the best I could do.

So far, I’d say I’m living up to this. I am working on a novel I wrote the first draft of, ten or soyears ago, and then put it away, with only a some minor editing. I found that draft novel the other day, and I’m now doing a second edit of the story, and I hope to try to get it published this year. If I can do that, I’ll certainly be very proud of myself!

Having MS may limit me in some physical ways at times, but my brain works, and I love writing! This novel isn’t perfect, not yet, I need to write many more words to get it to the required ‘word count’. It’s a novel, so I need a word count of at least 75,000 words, I currently have only about 52,000 words.

I know I can get it to the required length, because, I am good at writing, and I know what I need to do! I will work on the characters, tighten the plot, add in a much better ending than it currently has, and I’ll get it to the correct length! I’m good at poetry, too, and for this month, February, I have been writing a new poem every day, using a writing prompt that writing friends have put together for this purpose.

I’m very pleased with the poems I’ve written so far, and look forward to a new poem every new day, to be proud of! I am putting my new poems on my ‘Writer’ Blog here: https://carolyncordonwriter.wordpress.com/blog/

I’ve also been posting links to those poems on on that blog to my Twitter account, and I’ve seen a rise in my numbers for hits on that blog! I’m definitely proud of myself for that!