Get Up, Stand Up . . .. . .

I am now on my own for therapy -- there being no more goals that the PT or OT folks can help me accomplish  until my ankle is weight bearing. 

Which doesn't mean I'm free to read all day long -- no, I have

been tasked with pages of exercises designed to strengthen my legs in preparation for walking again and to improve the range of motion in my shoulder as it recovers from being dislocated.

So four times a day (before breakfast, before lunch, midafternoon, and after supper)  I'm lying or sitting in bed, doing isometric strengthening things or gripping either end of a reacher (not the Lee Child type) to assist the weak arm to move higher and higher or kicking out with my legs or marching  in place. Sometimes I have reggae music on my laptop to help me. Bob Marley's "Get Up, Stand Up" is my theme song.

I've never been good at routine exercise, more's the pity, but with the goal of walking (and going Home) in sight, I am dedicated. 

And the bonus is that exercise is a mood lifter, possibly

because of endorphins released. Or serotonin or norepinephrin or fairy dust (See HERE for article.)

 While there are mornings (particularly since the election) when I think I might just pull the covers over my head and refuse to deal with reality,  once I start exercising and feel the blood circulating, suddenly things seem less hopeless.

Let's hear it for those neurotransmitters!