Remember: You're Not Failing

Having a chronic illness like #fibromyalgia can cause you to have to cut back on the things you used to do during the holiday season.

Remind yourself that, sometimes, just surviving day-to-day really is enough.

Let yourself be human.

Do listen to your body.

Take a “time out” if you need one.

Too many of us try to fight through #fibromyalgia fatigue instead of resting.

Fatigue is the body’s way of telling you to take it easy.

We all have this Hallmark idea of what the perfect Christmas should look like: there should be family, friends, food & parties along with holiday joy. This pressure to have a 'perfect' Christmas can burden anyone but particularly those with #fibromyalgia.

Planning ahead gives you an idea of what goals you want to achieve & how to break those goals down into achievable tasks.

Focus on the things you can do & take pride in those, rather than comparing yourself to the old you or to people who aren’t sick.

#fibromyalgia may weave itself through all parts of your life it's not your entire existence. Try to find joy in the small things. We know that finding gratitude in life's difficult when you are in pain but gratitude gives you back energy & anger takes so much energy away.

Imagine it is an easier day. You have managed to get most of the things you wanted to accomplish done, but there is one thing you had planned to do, and you didn't get to it. Is your focus going on all the great things you did or the one thing you couldn't?

Stress can make your symptoms worse or cause them to flare up more often. It could also increase your chances of developing depression.

Look forward, not backward. Focus on what you need to do to stay well, not what caused your illness. Think about setting new traditions or doing things a little differently. Stepping outside of our normal way of doing things can actually make it easier for us.

We often criticize ourselves for not getting better when we’re sick, as though if we just did all the right things, we would be healed. But fibromyalgia doesn’t work that way—that’s why it is a chronic illness.

Living with fibromyalgia is hard. Asking others for help isn’t easy either. Many of us were told as children to do things ourselves and not ask for help, so it is hard to overcome that early conditioning. It is okay to admit you need help sometimes.

Remind yourself over & over that your body and feelings are valid. Think of something positive every day that you have accomplished or are grateful for. Nothing is going to cure #fibromyalgia, so it is to try to find little ways to live our lives more positively #FAC

Don’t be afraid to create new traditions, that are easier on you. With the weather outside being frightful in most of Canada, maybe this is the year for those new traditions. In a year where so many things have changed, so too can Christmas.

Merry Christmas from #FAC