LifePundit

Addicted to Self-improvement Books

There are so many ways I could improve myself. All I have to do is buy the right book.

Yes, yes, I know that as a Christian the only self-improvement book I need is the bible. Maybe I can pick up a self-improvement book about that. Maybe I already have. I'm not low on self-improvement books.

In the middle of the clutter I have several on getting rid of clutter. Some have even been opened, marked up, mused over, tossed back into the clutter. I have books on how to write, how to eat, how to exercise, how to make yourself happy, how to improve your love life (not the racy ones, sorry to disappoint), how to raise a daughter, how to deal with Alzheimer's, how to train a horse, how to take care of a farm, how to save enough money for retirement by not buying books....

My current self-improvement books seem a bit at odds with each other. I'm part of a bible study that's examining the other gods that we let slip into our life, the ones that turn into "putting another god before Me." I do a lesson in the morning. Sometimes the lessons mention how body image and the effort devoted to losing weight/getting fit can be a kind of interfering god that comes between you and the real God. After I've finished that lesson, I pick up the diet solution book (mentioned in previous post) and work on how I'm going to care more about myself and put my body image and health first. Well, that's not exactly what it says, but it feels like there's something in conflict with these two.

I can make a very good case for taking care of my body with diet and exercise because it is the temple of the Lord. I'd be lying about why I'm doing it, but I could make the case. The truth is, I'm doing it because I'm VAIN.

Maybe there's another self-improvement book I could use to balance out these two. Bridge the gap. Smooth over the conflicts.

A friend of mine is also addicted to self-help books. When she and her husband were getting married and were consolidating their book collections, he was amazed at all the self-help books on her shelf. He said, "If I'd known you needed this much help, I never would have married you. I hope you're all fixed now."

We're never all fixed. And that's okay, too. But what I need to do is start WRITING self-help books instead of buying them.

First I'll need a clever title. Something like: Help Yourself! Stop Buying Self-Help Books and Start Living.

Accutane Appears to Make Some People Grumpy

I'm not naming names, but Accutane appears to make some people grumpy. This surprises me, because when I took it eons ago I was my usual self until I started to see double. (True story.)

Then again, just how can you tell if a 13-year-old is grumpy? What part of the grumpiness is being 13, taking exams or being on Accutane?

For more on our family's Accutane adventures, go here (one month report) and here (our Kafka-esque beginning).

We're supposed to be looking for signs of depression in her, but this grumpiness might make us all depressed.

By the way, her skin is clearing up. The doctor has reduced the dose, so perhaps the grumpiness will reduce as well.

Unless that's not what's causing it and we have to wait until she graduates from college.

"This Will Just be a Little Stick" (Accutane Report)

See this attractive and puzzling symbol?  You have to tear off a little slip of cardboard with this graphic on it to get every single Accutane pill out of the blister pack. Lily is not so great in the throwing away trash department, and somehow I have these little banned pregnant women all over my house. Sort of like perverse confetti.

I'm a smart enough cookie, and I'm not entirely sure that the meaning of this international symbol is particularly clear. It looks like a symbol to prevent pregnancy, not to tell pregnant women not to take this particular drug. Instead, I'd read it as, "I'm pregnant. I don't want to be. Better take Accutane."

Lily had to have her one-month blood test today (she had the baseline one before starting Accutane). I can see that the medicine is blessedly working. Her skin is drying up. She even has eyebrow dandruff (and asked me what to do about it -- brush her eyebrows maybe?). We have so much hope riding on this medicine. So far, so good. My regular pharmacist has passed the pharmacist iPledge test and has the Accutane in stock, so we should be able to refill the prescription next week without all the aggravation and drama we had last  time.

Lily isn't crazy about getting her blood drawn but she so wants her skin to clear up that she doesn't even complain (much). This morning the lab technician who was drawing the blood assured her that "this will only be a little stick." (Can they say anything else?)

Then she had to get a different needle. Lily didn't watch the proceedings but was fine. She told the technician that she doesn't like needles.

The technician, who draws blood all day every day for this lab company, said, "I can't stand needles. I haven't been to the doctor in eight years because I'm afraid they'll want a blood sample."

I'm speechless.