Now this blue tit has a target before its eyes. Hanging from a branch is dinner, a net packed with all sorts of goodies and the bird is thinking about it, but not very long. The canteen is open and it is time to feed.

My target is often shopping for food, because no-one hangs it on a tree for me, or puts it in the cupboard. I have to fetch it myself. Having targets in life are a way to solve problems.

When I broke my leg in January everything fell apart for me. My daily routine no longer existed and my life at home was turned upside down. This all being coupled with having MS. Of course Mr. Swiss helped. From the beginning at home I cooked the food. He fetched it from the supermarket according to the list and I cooked it. That was the first target achieved. Although I must say I really had to pull myself together with a leg that did not function accompanied by a walker to give me support, but no-one went hungry.

The next on the list was the daily cleaning plan. I know it is not the most important thing to do, but it was for me. It was part of my life, and I enjoyed that part of my life. Things were where they should be and there were no odds and ends or bits and pieces laying in the corners on the floor. I have a stone floor and like to wipe it over in the morning: just with hot water, but it stays clean. I had to forget the living room, it was too big and too much. The kitchen had to have a clean up daily. I mean who has a kitchen that stays clean all day? No-one. My eldest son took over the ironing with a little help from Mr. Swiss and they also took care of the washing machine.

In the meanwhile I was making my target plan. Cleaning with a walker in the hand that I used to carry the mop and vacuum cleaner was very complicated, so my first aim was to ban the walker. The next step would be to do it all with my stick and eventually with just my own two legs.

The accident happened in January and 6 months later I can do it. It is a slow process, but I set my targets weekly and it worked. I am still not able to clean the bathroom or shower as I used to, but now have a wonderful cleaning lady who does it for me once a week as well as the kitchen every two weeks. Today I can do it all again under my own steam. I learned that you need patience above all, Rome was not built in a day. At the beginning you have a feeling that life will never be the same again. I had pain at night in my broken leg, and sleepless nights. Today I really do not know what the problems were because Mrs. Angloswiss is back again.

I was getting advice about not doing these things, it is really not necessary every day. I was overdoing it with the cleaning. That might be, but one thing people forgot was that it did not bother me. I still had time to sit at the computer and write, I still had time to go out in the afternoon in my wheelchair. And the best was the first day when I accompanied Mr. Swiss on the shopping trip, because from that day on I did it every time. The big achievement was last week when he could not go shopping on Monday so I took the car on my own, drove to the supermarket, did the shopping  and came home: mission accomplished.

And I have now banned my walker to another room. I spent every night with it next to the bed in case I had to get up. Now I get up and my stick is enough to get me to the bathroom. My target theory worked, I can do it again.

RDP#16: Target