Contributed by Bob “Oxygen Man” Rawlins, oxygen user and consultant to CAIRE Inc. ~
If you answered yes, this can be a good or bad thing.
Depending on how you use your spare time, right?
I used to refer to spare, or free, or downtime as my personal time.
However, I think it is also great for quality family time.
Everything removed, no outside interference. As a family, we will make our dinner a time to catch up, talk about school, maybe some things we are either struggling with or concerned about.
But, let’s talk about what you do with your spare time.
When I first got out of the hospital, I had lots and lots of spare or I felt unproductive time.
Notice the word unproductive. Get rid of that word. We don’t need negativity at all in our lives. The world is full of it.
The biggest challenge for me was all this idle time. After I went through the gazillion piles of paperwork from the hospital and the gazillion articles, I read about IPF, PF, ILD, Pneumonia, and whatever I could get my hands on about lung diseases I had a wake-up call.
The more I read about this and some of the other new challenges I have, the more I got either confused, tired, or even depressed.
And I’m on anxiety meds, LOL. That is how powerful your mental awareness and brain can be. It can lead you into a bad place if you let it.
You can get to a point in which you feel like every turn you make is another curve in the road.
I’m a very positive and energetic person, unless all my family and friends are lying to me. 😊
So, just this week my volunteering services have been suspended at the hospital.
Some of the stories and people I have heard and met with has been nothing short of amazing for me. Basically, priceless.
Once they get this coronavirus under better control things will open again and I will be looking forward to it!
Not long ago I met someone that was basically just waiting for the end to come. We talked a bit. We prayed a bit. She laughed and we both cried. Her next trip would be hospice and she knew it.
She told me to never stop trying to live your life every day. Try and help someone else do the same. Share your stories, good and bad. We are all human and sinners.
Be the best you can be all the time. Yep, this volunteering has been a great way for me to spend my spare time.
This was someone I’m sure who had some regrets, but we didn’t discuss those. She thanked me for coming in and talking with her.
We didn’t even exchange names, it wasn’t necessary, we became friends forever in just 30 minutes time!
Friends, our journey is long and limiting I know. We all have lots of spare time.
It is so hard for me to not be able to just jump in the car find a place to hit golf balls, hike on the trails around me, find a way to kill time with the things I used to.
I’m sure you can appreciate that. But I have found new releases.
I write, obviously, maybe even a book on the horizon, who knows.
Volunteering is a #blessing for sure. Helping in community projects using some of my skills from the working years. Cooking more, my wife loves it!!!
We all have talents given to us by God.
Exercise and do things that eat up that spare time and make a difference in you. Working or not it is an essential piece for any success in my opinion.
Have fun, be smart!
We are in a compromised group, so be SAFE!!!!
Till next time, #touchaheart, #laugheveryday, #breathe-easy
Love you all, Coach Bob
Bob Rawlins, 61, of Medina, Ohio, is husband to Terese and father to their 14-year-old triplets, a soccer coach, a hospital volunteer, band dad and chaperone, and marketing guru. He uses a FreeStyle Comfort portable oxygen concentrator and an eQuinox portable oxygen concentrator for overnight travel.
If you have been prescribed oxygen therapy, learn more about CAIRE by visiting www.caireinc.com/patients or by calling 1-877-704-0878 to talk to an oxygen advisor.
When using any oxygen therapy device please consult the applicable product instructions for use for product indications, contraindications, warnings, precautions, and detailed safety information.