If You Don't Care Than Why Should I?

When my ten year old daughter said to me "If you don't care, than why should I", a string struck a cord reminding me of a vow I made all those years ago to provide and project the best character and  lifestyle I could for my children. Of course in this situation it was all about her hanging up her coat after coming indoors while in the same breathe I  shamefully draped mine over the banister. I had been been bamboozled by a ten year old and it felt as if my motherly mouth was slapping me in the face. She was right, why should she care if I don't.

I got me to thinking about how the quirky correction to my parenting, applied to the rest of my life and since Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (MF/CFS) take up so much of my time, this would be a good place to start. We all have our daily routines, some days are good, some are bad and the rest are plain sh!t! Either way, we talk about this invisible illness and I just like you feel the frustration of FM/CFS not being recognized by the medical community as well as friends and family.

My question is, what have you done as a strong survivor of this painful illness to make change? Change is tough and we all deal with it differently, such as medication, vitamins, support groups etc. but what about the many other things in your life you could change to help improve your symptoms and include your family in the process? If we grow accustomed to being stagnant in this chronic path then you are undoubtedly feeling stuck, but there is a way out.

My theory, is that if you start to think outside of the box, such as looking up good recipes with my daughters (I have to cook anyway right?) that help FM and maybe try the Yoga on our Wii then maybe my family will not only come closer together but begin to care just as much as I do about fighting Fibromyalgia. I feel this plan would work just the same with family and friends. When they hear us griping about how much we hurt it is hard for them to relate, but if they see us making a difference no matter how small that may be their understanding of what we go through will be that much clearer. So when your co-workers ask about how yummy your left-over dinner, now microwaved lunch smells, you can say "It's great right, really helps with the aching joints from my fibro, would you like the recipe?"

All of this does not mean that ranting and raging on or offline, even to a very understanding friend is omitted or that there won't be days where the only thing you can muster to move is the pointer finger to adjust the buttons on the remote control. But on the good days, be sure to make your best effort to care in your cure and I guarantee everyone around you will care just as much.