Mourning The Life We Had. What?!

Recently I heard a Fibro Patient describe her transition from one phase of her life to the next by saying her pre-fibro life was like high school. It was over and she had to let it go. This was a great analogy! Except...the wrong one to live by.

Sure, there are certain things we won't always be able to do. Maybe we had a life where we taught people how to jump out of planes. Okay, with Fibro, we might not be able to do that anymore. But we can still jump out of planes! I know a few teachers who are affected by the Fibro Fog and have had to quit teaching. Or a bartender who can't stand up long enough to get through a shift and is terrified she'll pocket the money without intending to because her brain doesn't quite work as well as it used to.

Yes, our life before fibro is a lot like high school and we do have to let it go. But that doesn't mean we're done.

Do you really want to be sitting around moping about what you lost? What you can't do? Or do you want to set a new goal? Maybe one that is more reasonable.

Okay we can't instruct people how to fly through the sky or conduct a class full of screaming children (the most of which these days are starved for attention and love to make trouble) nor can we stand on our feet all day listening to the music pound in the background as we do our best Tom Cruise in Cocktail impression and make crazy tips!

Bye bye high school.

Hello College!

We have to get creative now. What we had grown comfortable with is no longer ours to have but don't sit around and mourn. (Okay maybe a little bit. Have a good cry session over the college you paid for in a job you can no longer do. But use your smarts to move on!)

When my writing career was put on hold because I couldn't get my brain to work for me, I started looking for other things to do. I came up with several ideas. Then once I felt better I got back to my writing but I still work on those other ideas in case it gets bad again.

I thought about opening an online shop where other Fibro patients who crafted things at home, sewed clothes, made toys, made jewelry, etc could all come together and sell their wares while raising Fibro Awareness. I thought about Fibro Patients who didn't craft, coming along and helping others at flea markets, state faires... as well as other venues by writing up pamphlets, baking goods, managing the online stores.

I had this idea...but haven't acted on it yet because I've been busy with my writing but I haven't given up on it. Myself and other Fibro sufferers could really get this off the ground and make something out of it so we could travel, have fun, bring awareness about our condition, demand answers by being in the limelight.

You see, I don't look on my life as a constant distancing of myself from High School. For me... my new ideas and future goals and successes are on a little island in the sea of life and I'm going to swim my ass off towards them for all I am worth.

lol.. and now the song "Just Keep Swimming" from Finding Nemo will be stuck in my head all day!

Mourning the life I had? Well, sometimes I think of how nice it would have been if...

But that's as far as I allow myself to get. That "if" doesn't exist. I have what I have and I'm going to work through it and get to the other side to happy and successful.

If you're interested in my little idea by the way...let me know via email at FibroHelper@gmail.com. If we get enough people who can devout some time to it, it won't have to wait until I have a ton of time to devout solo to it.

As always, My Friends, be well...and find your new island.