Winter solstice

Thanks, @Dimity .

Do you mean you have a lot of physical exercises to do before your surgery?

No @NatureLover although I'd like to get fit and lose weight I'm not confident I can cope with strenuous exercise before surgery. The advice is on coping after surgery as I'll be so restricted for 6 weeks, and still limited even after the 3 month recovery.

Ah, I see, @Dimity . Thanks for explaining.

How are you situated for Christmas? Do you have stressful family event(s)?

@NatureLover I'll have a long trip to the other side of the city. I'll have to work out what food to prepare and take. I'm behind on everything at the moment (cards, gifts etc).

Do you have plans?

That all sounds stressful, @Dimity . Is that on Christmas Day, your long trip across the city?

Half my family is interstate, and the other half is abusive (my father, mainly). So I don't do Cmas with them. I usually volunteer at work on Cmas Eve, but am too exhausted this year. I'll just be resting.

Hey @NatureLover, thank you for sharing your experiences with the Forums. I just wanted to check in with you about what you said about your family and father mainly being abusive. Nobody deserves to be abused, and it can happen in so many ways to people which is not right. Are you safe with your family or do you need some support maybe by contacting 1800RESPECT: 1800 737 732 is a good place to start?

Also, please email the Forums team at team@saneforums.org if there is something you'd like to share in a more private space.

Take care

RiverSeal

Thanks @RiverSeal . Don't worry, I'm 53 years old and have set some strict boundaries with my father. I only have contact with him 4 times a year, and two of those are phone calls. I've worked through a lot of the abuse in therapy. But I still don't want to see him very often.

No problem @NatureLover and it's great to know that you have boundaries in place to protect you and have had some therapy. I'm here sitting with you today and thinking of you. Take care RiverSeal

Thanks, that's kind of you @RiverSeal .

Hoping you are OK today, @Dimity 🤞

Yes @NatureLover Christmas day You'd asked about Christmas plans.

I hope feeling distant and estranged from family isn't contributing to your unhappiness at the moment. It's a difficult time of year for so many people. Maybe it's time for SANE to start one of its timely seasonal threads. What do you think @RiverSeal ?