Age makes my thoughts hard to hold on to.
But my wrinkles catch the thoughts as they fall.
Affording me a second chance to cherish them.
Category Archives: Fybromyalgia
Saith Me… Lumps and Bumps and Even Patches
Handspun yarn is much like life. The beauty is found in the lumps and bumps as well as in the smooth sections.
Spinning and knitting in small scale can be a fun way to try out new ideas. Working with small gauge needles when the hands no longer cooperate all the time can be a challenge, but I am learning to embrace that challenge. The speed and dexterity of my youth may be long gone, but patience and determination have become my companions.
Saith Me… Wisdom and Foolishness
Age may be making me wiser in many ways, but I still sometimes foolishly think my body can handle the abuse it withstood when I was much younger.
Life With Fibromyalgia: Finding a Reason to Smile
Living with a disability like fibromyalgia is a never ending lesson in adjusting and making the best out of a tough situation. Take this morning for example. I woke up feeling rather good, a bit of shoulder stiffness, but otherwise bright-eyed and chipper. I prepared for church and found that the fatigue that often hits just prior to leaving the house at 9:15 AM was absent. I was really quite pleased because last week the fatigue hit just as church was starting. I find hiding a bout of pain is relatively easy compared to hiding a bout of fatigue. While it may be acceptable for small children and old men to doze during the congregational meeting, it is usually frowned upon for middle-aged ladies to do the same. So by comparison, shoulder-joint pain was manageable and I was looking forward to enjoying the meeting.
Alas, to my great dismay, I found myself becoming queasy and lightheaded not more than 10 minutes into the meeting. Sure I had arrived 10 minutes early to get a good seat, but 20 minutes sitting in a pew should not have been enough to have cause discomfort-induced nausea, regardless of the fact that my shoulder pain had been joined by a stiff neck and sore back. By the time the sacrament had been passed and the bishop was thanking the deacons for their efforts, I knew that I had to leave. I asked my husband to carry my overly large purse as a precaution, and I proceeded to leave the chapel. Upon reaching the foyer, I discovered I was struggling to breath much like I was having an asthma attack, but upon stepping outside, my breathing began to ease. Oh and the gooey eyes that I had been doing my best to ignore, cleared almost immediately.
It would appear that I was having an allergy attack. Since I am not terribly susceptible to airborne allergies and perfumes usually only give me headaches, today’s strange reaction left me flustered and a bit frustrated. It is when the unusual, unanticipated, and odd physical symptoms hit that I find myself most severely struggling emotionally with my health issues. It during those moments that I want to weep. It is during those moments that I do my best to find a reason to smile. Today’s reason to smile – fresh baked cookies.
I am now sore and tired, but I am not frustrated or emotionally weary. If I do get weepy by the end of the day, at least I now can dry my eyes with one hand while I eat a cookie with the other.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
FYI: I cannot view, nor do I endorse any of the ads that are shown on my blog.
Saith Me… One Size Doesn’t Fit All
I think that as adults we try too hard to tame our bodies and our emotions to such an extent that we do ourselves harm. Like trying to wear a shoe that is too small, we try to force ourselves into a mold that works quite well for someone else but does not fit our needs. I think that we do better when we embrace the notion that one size does not fit all.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
FYI: I cannot view, nor do I endorse any of the ads that are shown on my blog.
Saith Me… Embrace the Hills
Many years ago a friend gave me some advice. He said that rather than dreading the hills I should embrace them. So after lacing on my running shoes, I began a chant. “I love hills, I love hills…”
Learning to love hills, or at least telling myself that I loved hills, greatly benefited me during my years of running. For some odd reason, I always ended up living in an area dominated by undulating terrain.
Hills come in all forms, and life’s undulating terrain challenge even the most fit among us. Sometimes the only thing that stands between success and failure is the mental chant, “I love hills.”
Hills are never fun, no matter what we tell ourselves. They require determination and perseverance. Sometimes they require great sacrifice and can even cause great pain. However, as we scale a hill, we become stronger, and when we stand at the summit, we become sure in the knowledge of our newly gained strength.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
FYI: I cannot view, nor do I endorse any of the ads that are shown on my blog.
Fiber Arts – It is Therapy
What other kind of therapy produces a final product in addition to providing health benefits?
What other therapy can be shared so readily with others without stigma or a doctor’s pre-activity approval?
So in a way, we are not only on the receiving end of therapeutic treatment but we are also becoming the therapist!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
FYI: I cannot view, nor do I endorse any of the ads that are shown on my blog.
Saith Me… An Interesting Question
Does an overtaxing, productive day followed by a sluggish, unproductive day equate life balance?
Living with fibromyalgia… the never ending challenge of finding balance continues.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
FYI: I cannot view, nor do I endorse any of the ads that are shown on my blog.
Saith Me… Indulgence in a Pinch
Hot cocoa is so much better when you run out of milk and have to make up the difference by using heavy cream.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
FYI: I cannot view, nor do I endorse any of the ads that are shown on my blog.
Pain Sucks, Life Doesn’t
Pain sucks, but life doesn’t. Whether it is physical or emotional, sometimes it is easy to forget that it is pain not life to which we want an end.
Chronic physical pain can lead to emotional pain and can be compounded by the pains of loss and loneliness. A bad day can turn into a bad week, then a bad month becomes a bad year. As with most creatures, the pain causes us to withdraw from those who seem unable to understand or assist. Caring people seem too busy or seem too happy to be bothered with the task of giving us a lift. Unlike the temporary pain most people experience, chronic pain never leaves. Sometimes it can diminish and give us a rare glimpse of relief, but then it can flare back up worse than ever. Some chronic pain sufferers face an ever shifting collection of pain that causes even the closest of loved ones to become frustrated.
Pain can seem all consuming and extremely defeating. Pain sucks, but life, despite the pain, contains joy and beauty. The dark lenses of pain may dim the light, but they do not eradicate it or cease it to exist. Daily life for people in pain requires a constant effort to see past the dark lenses, to see the light. Their efforts are helped when a loved one takes the time to lift the window shades and let in greater light.
As busy as we may be, as frustrated as we might get, we must work to lift the shades and bring in the light. Sometimes it is all that prevents the misery of pain from becoming the misery of life.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
FYI: I cannot view, nor do I endorse any of the ads that are shown on my blog.
Pithy Ponderings 