Most days I have something I need to do that day; laundry, mowing the lawn, cleaning, writing my blog. And yet whenever anyone asks me about my day, I can’t ever say I did much. Not because I sat around all day, just because everything must take me so long. Either that or I’m living in some kind of brain injury created time warp.

Has my concept of time changed?

Whether I’m getting distracted more than I realise, or I’m just really slow, I’m not sure. Recently I have been getting up earlier to make a start on writing, and yet I don’t seem to finish any earlier. At least I only have me to answer to, what if I was being paid to meet deadlines? It all just adds to my anxiety about how I will ever rise to life’s challenges. This is something I talked more about in Terrified I’ll fail after brain injury.

I’m not sure if this is happening just because I don’t have the same time constraints you do when you’re at work (or bringing up a family). Perhaps just because I have time to pause and think, I am. Or is it because my processing speed is holding me back? Either way, it feels like life is passing me by some days.

Life is short enough as it is.

The modern world is all about doing everything at speed. I noticed how that makes people behave differently when I moved from South West England, to Greater London. It’s not that people are better or worse, just that here they are cramming in so much, they’re more stressed. So I don’t want to be like that either.

But we get one chance at this life. I know many of us might feel we have had another chance as we survived a brain injury. But perhaps that’s even more reason to cherish what time we have. Don’t worry, I’m not going to be all morbid on you. Some people who lead busy lives would love to be in my position. Or at least they think that until they get there. So many people find retirement boring.

Perhaps it’s fatigue slowing me down.

Before you say it, I know we have to pace ourselves. And I’ve said before in Exhausted energy levels. Brain injury can leave you high & dry, how I can be guilty of pushing myself too hard.  So maybe this is just my new speed? I’m not saying I was ever the hare, but now the tortoise is lapping me.

As I’m writing this, I’m conscious of how often I sit “contemplating” what I’m writing. I might be kind to myself and say I’m taking the time to think about what I’m writing. But actually that’s only a small part of it.  I’m also considering how my eyes are so tired, I can feel the dark circles under them! How my arms feel so heavy I’m thankful that this typing position means I can keep them low. How it feels like there is cotton wool stuffed inside my forehead. So is this where my time goes?  Am I just constantly scanning myself and evaluating how this stupid brain injury has left me? That sounds full of self pity and being self centred, neither of which are admirable traits.

I keep taking on more.

Most of you will know that as well as maintaining this blog, I have also started a Pinterest  group board. My aim is to make valuable blogs about brain injury more accessible. So I have been trying to track down other bloggers and invite them to pin their work there as well. Plus I keep looking for other interesting pieces for survivors. It doesn’t sound much, but it all takes time. Please do have a look at it Brain injury group board, there are loads of great articles and info-graphs on there. Please repin any blogs to your own boards, as it will help that person rank higher and their work be shown more often on Pinterest. Hopefully then it’s more likely others who would benefit from reading it will come across it. If you haven’t done so already please follow my group board.