Friday, February 8, 2013

Living One Day at a Time

How do you know your attitude has changed towards how your illness affects your life?  When balancing your life does not include having to deal with constant depression, when you can smile about having to put your cane back in the same place to remember where you put it, and when having aches and pains don't make you angry -- you are learning to be content in your situation.  When I say content, I do not mean complacent.  When you can be content and happy despite the day's aches, pains, and events -- you have learned to live in the present. 

Living in the present can be a very good thing, because we deal with how we feel now, not yesterday or tomorrow.  For instance, I realize that I am feeling antsy this afternoon:  I did last night too.  So I'm not saying that you should just forget how you felt yesterday;  because if you feel the same way today, maybe your body is trying to tell you something.  Therefore, take a couple of minutes to think about what is going on.  What would help you in your current situation?

Sometimes, when one has Fibromyalgia or CFS, one's nerves seem to be on end for absolutely no reason you can pinpoint.  However, I know what is bothering me.  I have been spending too much time on the computer, blogging, or preparing something for a blog.  I need to move my body, do some household tasks, step outside for a breath of fresh air, and take a break from the computer.  I need to relax my mind:  my mind is reeling from all the things I think I need to do.


Back to Attitude    

Analyzing where you are in the moment is not an indicator of bad attitude.  It means you are taking care of yourself and figuring out how to balance your energy.  Realizing you are feeling a little off doesn't mean you have lost your happiness:  it just means it is time to smell the roses and look at where you are now.  Maybe, you just need to sit down and rest;  or perhaps like me, you have some things you have neglected for other things that seemed to take over your life.

Finally, those of us who have FM or CFS need to manage our energy.  So, if your problem is the laundry has piled up, you might not want to try to get it done in one day.  Take baby steps.  You can do one or two loads of laundry today.  Then, do another load tomorrow and the next day.  Sometimes, we make things so hard for ourselves.  We want to live our lives perfectly, doing everything we think we should do.  Watch out for living your lives with unrealistic expectations.  Remember, you can only take one step at a time.

2 comments:

  1. it was hard for me to accept that i had to slow down and live day by day because i was always a planner, had to plan ahead of time what i was going to get done the next day.. that dont work anymore.. now it all depends on how i feel after i have my couple cups of coffee in the morning if i get any housework done or if i just sit on the computer or if i sit here and listen to music videos for most of the day, usualy afternoon after i take my midday pills i have about an hour of sluggishness and sometimes i have the energy to get things done sometimes not.. some days i can do housework from the time i get up till the time we go to bed but i pay for it the next day, of course i take rests in between.. funny you mentioned laundry.. i have 3 baskets of clean laundry sitting in my bedroom to be put away that has been there for at least a month.. took me a week to wash it and its still not put away..LOL..
    it was easier to deal with when we started to pace ourselves and live in the present moment, day by day not by our expectations of what should be done and when..

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    Replies
    1. Tina, you are so right about it being easier when we live in the present moment and pace ourselves. It's good hearing from you.

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It is always lovely hearing from you.
Deborah