I recently came across the following excerpt from a journal entry I had written quite some years back. “Sometimes, just sometimes, I am over it. I mean, really over it! Over the relentless chronic pain that invades my body. Over the consuming fatigue that floods my body. Over the mental and emotional exhaustion that drains me. Over the array of symptoms that change constantly. Over it all! Damn you FM!”
Today I look back on that with gratitude. Firstly for the fact that this is no longer my ‘norm’ and secondly for the lessons I learned during one of the most challenging times in my life journey. A couple of years ago I managed to get the FM (Fibromyalgia) into a remissive state through listening to my intuition and a change in my nutrition, thanks to a kick up the rear end by a caring loved one.
For the most part it has stayed that way however there are times I feel various symptoms, to a mild degree, poke their head up just to let me know they are there. I am quick to adapt to what I am not managing optimally in order to squish them back away into the far distant background. I do not have room to house them and no desire to accommodate them in my life. I have altered so many situations and changed my ways to strive to live a life that is free from the effects of FM as much as I can.
I have empathy for those who are affected by FM and hope they achieve a better state of well-being, just as I have done. My journey has been different to what is conventionally suggested. I chose to take a natural path, much to the horror of some doctors who were ready with prescription pad in hand, eager to send me out the door with medications that would have copious side effects with little benefit to my symptoms. I had massage, acupuncture and began really listening to my body, tried strategies; eliminating the ones that weren’t beneficial until I established a management that suited me. I also later on changed my workplace, hours of work, nutrition and stepped away from relationships that were negative and draining.
This all reminds me how we are in a constant state of change and things do not stay as they are for long. The hardest of times and challenges we face do pass and we have better days. At times it is not always easy to see the better days on the horizon but they are there. We need to be in the best place to secure the vantage point where they can be seen and we find that point when we are truly ready, not when we want it to happen. It really is okay to just breathe and not resist the situation. Breathe and allow the flow to carry you forward to where you are next to get to on your life journey. Something I have said many times over to folks is that ‘Bad things won’t continue to happen to good people; this is temporary’.