“It’s OK not to be OK all the time”
I have narcolepsy so I can’t, like, do all the things that I want to do. I work with kids in martial arts but I don’t have the energy to, like, exist all the time, basically. So right now, I’m on the verge of falling asleep but I’m at this event with friends and I have to take time to go and be myself in order to function for the rest of the day. I work with the karate kids so I try to make sure that they know that is OK. I didn’t when I was younger and I found out that I had narcolepsy 6 months ago. And now that I have medication and stuff I have to take even more time for myself and then I can function better when I have to.
It showed me that personal health is very important and I want to show that to the younger generation of kids and teach them that it is OK to take time for yourself. It’s OK not to be OK all the time. And it’s OK to show weakness which is an interesting concept in a karate school. It’s really fun seeing them respond to that. I didn’t know that when I was younger I kept pushing through stuff and it made it way worse. It’s also fun because I look different and the kids call me Blurpurple Donkey at the karate school. It’s really cool being able to show them that you can be a good functioning person even if you look like society’s idea of a rebel. It’s interesting because my own parents don’t like the way I look but the karate kid’s parents find it really cool because it encourages their kid to be who they want to be and be who they are.
I grew up sleeping with stuffed animals on my bed. I just love stuffed animals. Then when I got my dog I didn’t need them anymore. She started sleeping on my bed. When I was in college my dog was at home but I missed her and it was really hard to sleep without her. So I took one of my old stuffed animals from home. I made sure that she had one that smelled like me that she would sleep with. I had 2 stuffed animal labs, I had one and she had one. She passed away this July. With all the narcolepsy stuff she was one of the most important things in my life for keeping me sane. Narcolepsy causes depression. Now that she’s gone I’ve taken the stuffed animals that look like her, the ones that she would sleep with and I put a collar on them. Now I have them on my bed again. I keep them close. They make me slightly happier but also really sad because I really really miss my dog. My dog used my stuffed animals to remind herself of me now I use them to remind me of her. I have four different yellow lab ones.