My Advice to Another with a Brain Injury

The other day as I was walking to work, I was thinking, "If were to meet another person with a brain injury and on the off-chance that they asked me for advice/what had helped me the most, what would I tell them?" I came up with 3 things, and actually, they all complement each other.

#1: Get a good night sleep, consistently. Granted, this is generally NOT easy for someone with a brain injury to accomplish, but when it can be done it pays enormous dividends! On days when I didn't sleep well, I wake up tired, and somewhat slump through the day thinking, "How soon can I go to bed tonight?' Days when I did sleep well, I'm happier and I get more done.

#2: Get regular exercise/physical activity. Regular exercise benefits my physical and mental health and well-being. I look better, I have mor energy, I'm happier with how I look. I'm less stressed and frustrated when I can release my emotions through exercise. Most importantly, I sleep SO much better on nights when I exercised during the day. I sleep deeper and longer.

#3: Being grateful especially for the small things in life. On my other blog, I started doing a post every day of things I was grateful for that day and it has made a huge difference for me. There are parts of life that I may wish were different, less challenging, etc but when I look back on all the good from that day, I find myself thinking, "How can I be upset with so much good in my life?"

How to do these things- as I don't believe any of them are easy to do.......
1-develop a sleep routine that works for you and stick to it. Get exercise/activity during the day
2-Find some exercise/activity that you enjoy doing. On days when life is full, make it a game to see how much time you can make for exercise that day. Save a favorite show/song to watch/listen to while you exercise.
3-Make/keep a list of all that you are grateful for so you don't forget! Look for the good. If you look for it, you'll find it!