Peer Group Chat // Conquering Our Goals // Thursday 23rd February 2023, 7-8:30PM AEDT

Hi @TideisTurning

I missed this post until now - I seem to have a technical issue with my connection - this is something to have a goal for this week - getting it fixed - that is within my capabilities and something I am motivated to deal with.

What does capable look like for me? Well - I would love to go and see the hippos in the zoo to the west of Melbourne - that's a long trip and even going to the zoo in Melbourne would not be easy. So - for an older person with a painful chronic injury and without a licence to get to either isn't really easy. If it wasn't such a long train trip I could get to the Melbourne Zoo - I think that could aggravate my pain considerably and the price is too high to pay.

There could be a high price for a goal - and it depends on whether it is worth that price - I guess it as a high financial and emotional cost to go to university part time for 12 years. Time wise too - but it was worth that price - I believe every day of my life now in enhanced by my experiences - those particularly. I was capable then - this would not be the case now.

My really strong goal is to manage my chronic pain - it's really severe and it means resting my shoulder a lot so - that's my important goal - to manage the pain - and personally I am prepared to pay the price for that - which means no trips to the zoo though taking a flight interstate for a holiday where I would be able to take life at my own pace is not. Right now though - with so much trouble at airports I am not prepared - I went through Melbourne airport twice in May and it was chaos - I can wait until the post-COVID rush to get away is under control. This all falls under pain management and my specialist is impressed with how I managed it - this is a really great goal to achieve.

Um yes - getting to my uncle's funeral in Hobart in May was a goal with a high price I was okay about paying. Capable? Okay...

A person needs the funds, independence/support, ability and drive to fulfil their goals - this is not an easy choice. Fear is something else - overcoming fear - lack of self-esteem - sometimes really needing to be assertive about having and working out and then achieving goals - none of this is easy and it's harder for some than others.

It is a real pity to the issues that can be overcome stop us from achieving a better quality of life - that's for sure

Owlunar

@tonys you make a really good point here in terms of equality not necessarily being across the board or universal for whatever reason. this is one reason I'm really passionate about equity. I'm curious if you thought about what more it might take (i.e. what extra things such as support) you might need to make such dreams/goals more realistically attainable for you? that poem also sounds excellent and I'd love to see it. Just in case/ full future reference, you can either tag me in the thread itself (using the @ in front of my username) or you may also be able to get a link by clicking the down arrow of ‘post options’- somewhere in that drop down maybe something along the lines of ’get link’ 😊

@Owlunar, another valuable point in terms of the cost- everything comes with a price after all, even if it’s not money. Also other important things for consideration that you've listed, in terms of the benefits you're likely to gain versus the price you need to pay for example. I can tell you've thought very carefully about what is and isn't worth trying to do or work toward for you. Though I'm sorry to hear about the challenges and associated barrier you face around your chronic pain. There was a Topic Tuesday discussion around this a while back (more here)- just thought I’d share in case you hadn’t come across it and there might be anything valuable in it for you 😊

@TideisTurning now you've done it. Given me a home work assignment. After work tomorrow I will be scratching my smoking head to produce. It will be on your desk with a big shiny red apple before the week is done. Bet you did it to take my mind off things

I hope you have a wonderful evening and thankyou so much for your letter and If I can remember the poem I will be sure to send it too. Now on my way to the river for a fish, and they always bite best when the. . . . tide is turning. Kind wishes tonys mb 1

@TideisTurning Hello tide is turning. I do hope you are well. I did promise to hand in homework assignment and keep my promises.

The poem you asked for, I found It. In context, its about getting through the dark by remembering to be grateful for the small things.

poor mans daily prayer.

Thanks that I woke one more day in a bed

That I'm happy with water and unbuttered bread

When fire and flood take my home and my bed

I'll give thanks to hard ground and a log for my head.

Thanks to all the rocks people throw

They forged me a fortress in a wasteland of snow.

To the cowards who paint hurtful words on our walls

The wisdom to not succumb to their calls

To the man who cant walk I give thanks to each leg.

To the man who cant see may I never renege

I give thanks to the yolks of resilient eggs

For the man who now fights, now no longer begs.

I guess its part of the building resilience.

I have some impairments that slow me down typing so I will send my homework straight after I send this. thankyou. tonys Moon base 1

@TideisTurning Hello again. I'm afraid its another poem for my home work. Its my go too when my head is changing lanes. A world devoid of ego, competition. alpha dominant hands on the the reins of power. What would make my goals attainable would mean others would have to surrender the inherent traits of what it is to be human.

In the real race to the bottom world, If it happened, it would be for a fleeting moment in time.

Evolution is cruel. But I better add That I am pragmatic and tough enough to endure regardless .

Too belong and be accepted in this world. That is the wish for those who live in my world.

To be sketched as a person for just one day.

The motions of maidens in moons incandescence

I'd slice you my eye for your souls iridescence

You bleed me your tears

to quell my worst fears

If just for one day I could bathe in your presence

Cherished and nurtured and freed from the thorns

Leisurely picnics on manicured lawns

Miles of smiles

Through shopping mall aisles

Warm in your homes its my rain on your tiles.

So one becomes two becomes skin flayed from tree

Years of pain bartered for i n s a n i t y

I cant feel your face with no sight and no hand

the glass is to crazed and I can't understand.

Songs left unsung from silk hearts wrapped in slate

I yearn just to burn in an unaltered state

Worlds made of hammers and minds made of glass

The lives that were lost on that cold mountain pass . . . .

Hope that you can see the vast distance between the this world and those that were born into moon base one... Please share if you think It will give someone an insight into autism

I hope you are well too @Owlunar . I havnt heard from you for a while.

@Sophia1 Hope you are well. I was thinking of you and your son as I wrote.

Tonys moon base one.

@TideisTurning Sorry . spelling error in poem. Bath is meant to be " bathe" Is there anyway that could be given A "touch up" I'm sorry, spelling and school should have been on my bucket list. Take care and very best wishes, tonys mb 1

Hello @tonys

I found you over here with your homework

I hope that you are given high marks for such creativity...

Personally I do not believe that your spelling should be corrected.

I think it is part of your poetry and needs to be untouched by another.

I am not a successful poet though......

I think that you conquered this quest.

Hello all

Sophia1

@Sophia1 hello mate. I can tell you are tired again. I hope you find a little recovery in a restful night. I forgot to say too that I did see your huge road runner picture. It was just perfect.

Reminded me to mail order from acme. How was your day and any news on your family situation.

The poem definatley needs the spelling mistakes fixed, otherwise its a brook running backwards. usually I'm yelling out to the book keeper every second word, how do i spell. . . .

I did get that earlier skipping rope one but thats o k , I like skipping ropes. every 2 seconds its a gravity free environment. and then we come down to earth. The playgrounds lesson for what is to come. . . .

Mate Ive been digging a trench for a new room so I will go but check now and then if you want to chat. Big hug from me true friend. Bring me a glass of water from the deep upon your return please. tonys mb 1

Hi @tonys

I have been around the site a bit - not as much as I would like because of my shoulder pain - that's my challenge and I live with it - my specialist is impressed by the way I manage it - that is a great compliment.

I read your poem - it is very thought provoking. It does help me to see into the mind of a person with autism - a very articulate person I must say.

I would not be using my degree in English Literature if I didn't comment on a few things you have written - so here goes.

Songs left unsung from silk hearts wrapped in slate

That is really powerful - there are people who are sweet and gentle but locked inside themselves and never let their songs - there deep thoughts - be said - sung. I can really see that. What sorrow that these people never share the wonderful thoughts they have. It would make the world more beautiful if they did.

I wrote this for a friend of mine years ago - it's just a few lines from a sonnet that was never published.

Australia's child whose patriotism shares great love for just one man -

And deeper sorrow bears - blessed by her heritage -

Her country's mountains, cities, seas and land.

Time passes and people come and go in our lives - I am glad I shared a few years with this man and then we passed on - taking different paths. However - I am glad I wrote the sonnet and have included a few lines here - so my silk heart has a song that was sung. This is a good thing.

Worlds made of hammers and minds made of glass -

I really like this - I could say a lot - it does indeed show me a lot of what you see and feel - how the world sometimes crashes and even crushes people and can shatter their thoughts. I know it tries - I find the world has made my life more interesting - challenged in different ways - yes - maybe the glass is stained-glass - I like this idea

Keep writing Tony - on your moon base. I really like the moon - all my life I have watched its phases - whenever the sky is clear I go outside to look at it - one morning I woke up early and went outside to look and it was in a crescent lying on its back.

My little picture - my avatar - is a little owl in the middle of a total solar eclipse. Another member here created it for me - and my name - Owlunar - is for the little owl in the moon - it's very special for me.

I love your writing - I read the site a great deal - I can't always write but when I do - I write from my heart.

You are special.

Owlunar

thankyou so much @Owlunar . It was a handful of words from you that that set my old rusty protesting cogs back in motion. And I know you have a very full life and a very sore shoulder so thankyou again to the power of 4.

I wanted to ask you why you did not publish but its deeper than this isn't it. I read it a dozen times . It would be like your naked heart paraded through the streets.

It could put your heart into hazard. So small, but a whole banquet of beauty. One day I hope you will send me another tiny piece of ' your lace'. . . . . with some guiding words to what you were feeling in the moment. I'm on the back of your mirror. never went to school, so it helps to know the bow behind the arrow.

I'm sure you know that trauma can cleave the mind in two as a way of dealing with things.

hence the line about the skin from the tree, So at times you'll forgive me please if I sound a bit to colourful its the other ... me. Your letter about the rats in your ceiling had me writing till 2 in the morning.

I read my nightmare. It frightened me and so glad I binned it.

But you have responded and in the most wonderful letter yet. You are a tolerant person who has been generous with your time and advice and I am in you debt. As you can tell I can only maintain Tupper ware talk for so long, and then loose control and it takes a special person to be in a room with some one with autism. So you are very special too

Please take your time and let that shoulder recover and one day if I'm lucky the owl will adorn my old rusty mail box again in the light of the moon.

Bless you my scholarly friend. tonys moon base one.