What is a New Year without Resolutions? Here it is the 2nd of January and I am sitting down to make mine. Well okay, these aren’t mine. I was talking to a friend at church today and they are his: healthy, wealthy and wise.

I asked him why he had chosen these three words and he said he had had a suspected heart attack so had a few specialists appointments to get a general health check and had also made an appointment with a dietician to get some idea of what he should and should not be eating. He said he wants to live a few more healthy retirement years.

I asked him about wealthy and he said he had made a few wrong decisions and found himself without money just before Christmas. He said for that reason he had volunteered to go to a local charity event and feed the homeless as that meant he didn’t have to cook a Christmas dinner he really couldn’t afford. Wow, for someone relatively well off that really got to me. It is so easy to spend more than you really should around Christmas so it is his plan that this year he will not make big purchases in the later quarter of the year so he will have more money available for Christmas.

And wise I asked? Yes he said: “I’ve stopped talking to God and those around me about what I am doing. I didn’t seek advice and get some tips, so I bought a more expensive entertainment set-up than I could afford, not the best value for money.”

From my point of view healthy is important. I am always posting little snippets of advice for others, I also have to listen to them myself. So when I tell one of the caregivers to take more “me time” I have to do the same. When I tell them to “get a good night’s sleep” that counts for me too. I need to let others know my needs and make sure I get some of them met – even if I have to take some of my “free time” to get a massage, go to the pool and exercise, or go for a walk on the beach. My health is important. It is important to me and important to Ray. If I am not in good health it is harder to look after Ray. If I can’t look after Ray we will suffer financially.

I am already wealthy. Not in financial terms although we have enough to meet the majority of our needs. I am wealthy in friends, support and care. I do have access to subsidized care for Ray, only five hours a week but that is better than nothing. I do have access to other services through the package for pensioners the government provides. I know we have better access to health care here than in a lot of other countries, So we are wealthy in having what we need to live a comfortable life.

And I wise? Yes I am and the more I listen to others and seek answers among those who have been through what I am going through, the wiser I get. So thank you to all who contribute to my posts, comment on my blogs, post information I need or simply share their own experiences here. Your wisdom contributes to my wisdom and indeed makes me wise.

Because I am healthy,wealthy and wise I am able to direct my energies where they are most needed. I should be better able to adjust to different circumstances. It is hard when something like the diabetic blister on Ray’s heel necessitates him having to be in the wheelchair even in the house but I should be able to adjust to that. It is not forever, just 6-8 weeks. And if I ask for extra support during that time I should not get to feel like a prisoner in my own home. I should manage to get out enough to combat that.

We who are on the stroke journey as survivor or caregiver have a harder road than most of follow. But we are overcomers not losers. We have had the opportunity to stretch ourselves and grow that we wouldn’t otherwise have had if we had had work dominate our waking hours. And here we have companions on the journey so we are not alone. So if you have not made resolutions why not take mine and see yourself as healthy, wealthy and wise?