Mind Over Bladder

The Bladder……all of us have one as part of the Urinary Tract system. Hands up if like me, sometimes you curse it for being super efficient at the wrong times!

Picture-UrinaryTract

Inside view of our organs

Inside our bodies, it secretly plots to put you on the verge of an embarrassing moment, not realizing that unlike newborns, we don’t drive around with a diaper bag and a change of clothing.

I’ve always been a frequent goer. After surgery, the frequency remained but the volume increased. I can P.O.D. even if I just did it, so I have no fear if I have to do a urine test at the doctor.

On the days when I have to go out, which has been more often last week and this week, I have to calculate how far I have to drive and determine where the possible pit stops are. A few days ago however, I decided I would see if I could use my mind to control my bladder (without getting cystitis!). 

The day before, I was in a class and there was an available washroom nearby. I couldn’t find a suitable time to slip out, for fear of missing some important content. So I sat there for 5.5 hours, squeezing away. And when the class was over, I declined the waiting twa-lay, preferring instead to continue exercising my K-muscles on the less than 10 minute drive home.

The following day before I set out to drive a farther distance, I thought to myself “if I could have gone that long yesterday, I must be able to drive 25 minutes without having to shampoo the car seat.” Nonetheless, I lined up the theatre as Option 1. It was early so I was hoping it would have been open. Its location was the half way mark on my journey. When I was approaching the entrance, I did a quick bladder assessment and said “well yes, lemme take the chance.”

That was bold because there was nowhere ideal for the rest of the journey. That’s the beauty of those international cities where there is no trouble to find somewhere to piddle (the P in P.O.D.).

How did I get through the rest of the journey? By willing my mind to ignore whatever signals the bladder was sending it and visualizing myself at my destination in “just a few minutes more.” Success! Of course, once I reached there, I only had a few minutes to put my bags down before hitting the washroom.

Tell me, can you go for a whole day at work or school without piddling?

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