Life quality

"keep her lit"  Joey Dunlop   ( motorcycle road racer, my hero, referring to his engine, means keep going )   

Apologies for the depressing reply. My moods are up and down like a yo yo. 

What I mean by my response to what am I doing to help my life, is that I've been trying to pursue my interest in the outside world, but finding it increasingly frustrated all the places that are shut off to me. So feeling like i cant improve my life. 

I have a heart condition (born with parts missing, only half of it works)  and a chronic illness which doctors think I became more susceptible to from stress and can only walk short distances, using a wheelchair for longer distances. 

That's how I approach things. I can be too busy, or too lazy, and find it hard to find a good balance. Same with most things.

To be honest, I am not sure if I completely understand the second part of your answer. However, the first part is very clear (except I'm unsure whether any sarcasm is in there). I am sorry to hear how the world feels inaccessible and how it brings you down. And I guess I understand to some point, how places feels like a closed club only for the normal functioning. Be it in a physically or psychologically manner.

How are you disabled? If I may ask :) 

I really hope that you will have the strength to find some light in your life going forward. 

Wise words... For some time I've focussed on balance. There is a balance in everything and when you're high or low, the next thing is to focus on getting back to balance. To me that also means being content. I don't want to change that. I just want to be able to find my way back into balance. 

very zen

1. I am neither content or contemptible. Life is just the way it is; some things are awesome, others suck. There will be blessings in my life, coming up, but I won't rub it in the face of others. I have been broke many times, and know that there's a fine-line between success and failure.

2. Music, and following the Football, keep me from going berserk.

mmm.. i'm wondering how much to reveal about my asd. i've been revealing it more and more, particularly to friends. to the outside world... since i am retired, it is less of an issue. yes, i guess it's a two edged sword. best of luck on your loan! 

1. Do you feel content (edited from contempt) with the quality of life you are living?

No. I'm pretty much just waiting to die at this point. 

 2. What efforts are you making to improve your life?

I've been trying to get outside more, but too many places even just up the road from me remain inaccessible to me, and so I'm learning that there is no space for me in a  'simple' more 'wild' life I'd want and would the lifestyle that would be better for the world. And that it's phsycially disabled people like myself that help keep us in our civilised state. By 'civilised' i mean this negatively, where we live in 'concrete jungles' and such things. 

So not sure how to improve life 

Thanks for the brilliant list Ethan! 

The word catastrophizing is new to me, but it really hits the bulls eye. I'm at the end on one of those exacts days. I have not been present at all today. I've been in a constant state of panic and catastrophic thinking all day.  So it really helps to hear someone else put it so simple into one word. Catastrophizing. I'll use that in the future. Thanks! 

1. Do you feel content with the quality of life you are living?

- In general yes, but I find myself catastrophizing if I'm stressed/overwhelmed.

2. What efforts are you making to improve you life?

-Eating well and healthily

-Reconnecting with emotions, even the uncomfortable ones. (using a mood chart)

-Meditative practices/daily Tai Chi

-Conscious living and allowing myself to "be".

-Limiting activities I know are draining 

-Read more and a greater variety of books

-Reading biographies/testimonies of autism

-Building in self-management strategies in daily life (i.e. breaks between tasks, try not to do things on autopilot)

-Taking care of the physical environment (cleaning it and not learning to live with "dirt")

-Be kind to myself on the rough days 

We've actually taken some of the same steps in our lives. We have simplified our lives a lot to make us less dependent on money. So I can 100% relate to how simplifying your life makes it much easier. Demands make it really hard to cope with being autistic.

Yes, I found Tai Chi and Chi Gung super helpful, and Alexander Technique for untensing my body and connecting more with it. Being in nature by fell running helps me too.

Reading lots and lots about autism helps me manage it, or manage my expectations on myself.

A friend said to me once in my late twenties, "It must be hard being Mark W*#&*." I didn't know what he meant, but I knew it was meaningful. Now I'm learning about autism traits I understand how much effort life was, and sometimes is. This autumn I was watching some people in a pub chatting and I could see how relaxed they were, like their brains weren't working. I can be content in situations like that, but don't think i ever experience being relaxed.

A big survival tool for me has been to only work 2.5-3 days a week. I've used Fri to recover, weekends like others, mon to have a day recovering from social wkd! Then 1 or 1.5 hours off Tues-Thurs.

It's meant being careful with money, but having more time helps with that, and you don't need to reward yourself with alcohol and treats so much. Basically not eating and drinking out saves me a lot!

Well, the progressive part still feels rather superficial in many instances. There is a will to be inclusive, but if you have an autism diagnosis, you loose a number of rights and options. Can't go to the army or police. Very hard to get a job. And just a general attitude of "Wow, good for you that you know now. Let's talk about something else". I'm not sure where the boundaries for the autistic life actually lies in Denmark, but it still feels very insecure to have it out there. We are looking into making a loan in the bank to buy a house. And just to be sure, I removed every evidence from social media. Just in case. 

i just have never been able to do meditation, etc... just drives me up the wall. i have done feldenkrais, which is somewhat similar, and tai chi. so i guess i'm into movement. yeah, i feel like i'm "high functioning" whatever that means, but with many drawbacks that really sabotage me.  

otherwise, i do intermittent fasting, trying to figure out how to mitigate my meltdowns (which i was never aware i had), and how to deal with my sensitiivites... i was diagnosed at 62. since my diagnosis, i've been gradually becoming aware of how disabled i really have been, without even knowing.

how is life in denmark being on the spectrum? i think? denmark is super progressive???? 

Yeah, I apologize for that :D

LOL  i thought question one was strange