November 5

"People tend to think their circumstances determine the quality of their lives. So they pour their energy into trying to control those situations. They feel happy when things are going well, and sad or frustrated when things don't turn out as they'd hoped. They rarely question this correlation between their circumstances and feelings. Yet it is impossible to be content in any and every situation."

"I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go. and I will bring you back to this land." Genesis 28:15

I just said how hard it was to always be happy, and I feel like this was telling me that it's okay to get upset. "It's impossible to be content in any and every situation." God is using me, but I don't have to think this is easy or be happy about it all the time. I'm lucky that He's blessed me with a positive attitude to keep me going while I'm at Magee.

I rode the stim bike again today and saw more improvement! I made it off the motor again and for even more time than last week. My power (or effort from the stim generating enough contraction to pedal the bike and turn the motor off) was 0.2W the first time, 0.4W last week, and 0.9W today...I get a little confused as to what those specific numbers mean, but I know they're doubling each week!

I curled my hair in rec therapy with Tracy (with my curl wand, and that's hard!) At the end of my OT session, I painted my nails...and to be honest, they look great! I can't believe I didn't make any mistakes...it must be all that practice I've had with a paint brush in art therapy, haha.

My youth pastor came to visit in the morning. It was so beautiful outside...Stephanie, Mary and I spent a long time sitting at the tables on the roof, talking about anything and everything. I find it very comforting to talk about my situation and how I'm feeling with someone in a spiritual way. I always walk away from the conversation learning something and being uplifted. I can't wait for Mary to come back and visit.

I had more visitors in the evening- two friends from school (Kaitlyn and Aimee) and my roommate, Annie. We all sat in one of the conference rooms and talked for a long time (while I ate the dark chocolate with sea salt that Kaitlyn brought me). It was the perfect way to end the day.