chronicillnessandme chronicillness chronicpainwarrior millionsmissing chroniclife pwme spoonie selfcare spoonielife chronicfatiguesyndrome chronicillnesswarrior butyoudontlooksick restday spoonies spooniesupport anxiety cfsme chronicpainsucks illness invisible invisibleillness invisibleillnessawareness meassociation meawareness meawarenessweek migraine quote selfawareness symptoms work socialmediaday
Take note!
So this week like much of last week has been a fatigue bomb. Like an explosion of fatigue that I can’t stop so I just rest. Today like yesterday hasn’t gone to any kind of plan I made and mentally that’s more tough. Especially when you’ve had a week where fatigue has faded a bit as the major problem and them comes back even harder. It’s okay though, sometimes we are forced to slow down and it’s a good thing, we just don’t always recognise why. Here’s a reminder if you too are struggling with it all...
Fatigue isn’t laziness or being unmotivated. Fatigue is real, it sucks the life out of you and you’ll be left with no choice but to rest. It’s okay to give your body and mind what it needs. Rest is productive! Rest is vital and above all rest will allow you to get where you want to be, not hinder it.
We are conditioned to see rest as bad. As lazy as though some how it’s going to stop us in our tracks and prevent all the good stuff happening and honestly, it’s utter rubbish. You don’t have to push through and fight your way to get things done. Balance it out. Feel it out, recognise there are no deadlines for how you live your life. If it takes a bit longer than anyone else it doesn’t mean it’s somehow worth less. Learn as you but above all honour yourself, your needs and keep faith all things happen when they are supposed to.
I talk a lot about healing and my path. I feel healing is a constant state of a process but, today I want to address a big misconception about the word and what healing looks like when living with a long term health problems. Healing isn’t about an overnight cure.
First off it’s very rarely pretty lol. I have experienced joy and happiness in my healing journey but often it is the *most* uncomfortable thing because it’s facing parts of ourselves we’d really rather prefer not to. Often there’s the perception you’ll make great waves of progress and by going in head first all determined you’ll get the magic results. In my experience, no. It can hit hard and you can feel so lost in it, almost like the destruction of a storm. It’s not until much later looking back do you see your progress and once it’s all being stripped away you start to rebuild, more aware and more improved and it’s almost then the real work begins.
But here’s the biggest misconception about healing journeys. You really don’t need to be constantly improving to be in a state of healing. It can feel like no progress is being made, like nothing is changing and there is simply no improvement, more often than not this is the reality of life with an chronic illness right? Combined with the social pressure of people asking how you are only to expect you to real off a list of improvements you’ve made. Or you see others post on social media their improvements and you feel stuck, miserable and like a failure because you haven’t made any lately and if anything it feels like you’re going backwards. I feel you honestly. It is damn tough and there’s no manual to follow but even in these times you will still be in that healing process, it’s just at that time you need to just be.
This is here to say it’s okay. Breathe. You’re doing just fine and you don’t always have to be improving to heal. No no, just be, relax and feel it out. Where you are right now is important even if it feels stagnant. It all plays a part this is your healing path. Take your time, take your steps and settle with the fact healing isn’t always about improvement. It’s also about unlearning, understanding and accepting.
Today is disability awareness day. I’m reposing an updated version of this as a reminder not all disabilities are visible but, it doesn’t mean they aren’t real or that the people with them are invisible either.
Often there’s a presumption of what disabilities look like but like all things there is no “normal” look for a disability. It’s about being aware, understanding but most of all compassionate.
If you see someone using a disabled toilet who doesn’t look disabled, using a disabled parking space who can walk or someone get up out of a wheel chair and think they can’t be disabled think again as often the reason people need to use them isn’t blatant like they would if we were wearing a cast for a broken leg. The disabilities are there just not visual. Disabilities and disabled people don’t all look the same!
I’ll say it again as I have in other posts, the problem with ME/CFS in particular is it’s not only an invisible disability with symptoms being most often internal but we people with it are literally invisible to society as we can’t always leave the house due to the severity of it.
I know I’m preaching to the converted but before you judge a disability just think twice about what you use as a framework to define a disability.
This is what a flare up looks like for #systemiconsetjuvenilerheumatoidarthritis / #stillsdisease (for me at least). In bed, too sore and exhausted to move. Rashes. Shaking. Fevers. Coughing up blood. The lot. This is a pretty honest post- I hate my flare rashes. But THIS is what chronic illness looks like. People often assume it’s just laying in bed all day because you’re tired. It’s not. It’s so much more than that. Including CFS, which many people underestimate because of its misleading name. CFS, lupus, rheumatoid, still’s, crohn’s, IBD, EDS, POTS... they’re all invisible at first, but when you look closely, you’ll see how it’s affecting our lives. -
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#chronicallyill #chronicillness #chronicillnessandme #chronicillnessawareness #systemiconsetjuvenilerheumatoidarthritis #rheumatoidarthritis #stillsdisease #lupus #chronicfatiguesyndrome #ehlersdanlossyndrome #potssyndrome #ibd #crohnsdisease #coeliac
Couldn’t decide so thought I’d share both ♀️
Message today is simple: rest before you run out of power ok! Don’t let yourself get to 0% and not be able to function. As soon as you think you’re running low, rest. Give yourself the permission to try and recharge yourself (I know it takes a lot longer and doesn’t always go to plan but rest). It’s necessary and needed.
(And yes think! Because if you’re anything like me you think you have energy, you’ve probably way overestimated anyway and don’t have as much as you think you do, so get in early and don’t let it go beyond that point of 0)
Stop feeling guilty, you’d not think twice about plugging your phone in when it runs out of juice right? So as soon as your body has to enter that forced energy saving mode have a think of when you can plot some essential time out. It’s healing and required when you live with fatigue. It’s the kindest thing you can do so don’t hesitate, okay? Good pep talk! Enjoy your rest time
Some days there are just no spoons left and you don’t have the energy to spare for certain people or situations right?
This little fella was the very first Spoonie character that entered my fatigued fogged brain back in what, something like the start of 2017 now.
I’ve come a long was since then when I look back and never imagined he’d be the star of his very own merch range, I thought being well enough to get postcards printed was super amazing back then and I’d be happy to stop there. While they are of course and I love a good postcard with the help of modern technology and @spoonietom he’s now available to wear and even decorate your bed or sofa!
So go on, let him do the talking for you because let’s face it some day’s we just don’t have the energy to say fork off when we really want too right?
[Now available in our shop via @teespring link is in bio called “t-shirts and totes”]
Hello lovelies! Long time no see. I'm still around, just haven't been doing too well, so I haven't really been able to come up with anything to share.
Instead, I've been focusing on some admin behind the scenes.
This past week I've rearranged my over-the-bed desk, simplified my schedule - again, cleared my old desk under the window so it's ready for photo taking, and I sorted and filed all my old art pieces in a little box with dividers I made to fit.
I've also been working on my blog while lying in bed, updating old graphics and fixing broken links, responding to your lovely comments and so on.
Maintaining a blog is quite a lot of work, but it's something I've been doing for many years and I actually love every part of the process. Remember, you can find all my latest posts through the link at the top of my profile.
I'm quite excited about a new project I'm working on. Actually two projects! One is a collaboration with a few volunteers who are translating my awareness pictures into various languages and the other is a personal dream of mine that is finally taking off... More details to come soon.
So despite feeling rather yuk these days, I've been keeping distracted with things I love and resting in between. So I have lots to be celebrating this week.
Do you have any passion projects you're working on at the moment?
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ChronicallyHopeful.com #ChronicallyHopeful
#ChronicallyHopefulBlog #pwme #MEcfs #MillionsMissing #EndMEcfs #SevereME #MyalgicE #Spoonie #chronicillness #SpoonieLife #ChronicLife #disability #chronicpainwarrior #InvisibleIllness #Chargie #housebound #InvisibleDisabilities #chronicillnesswarrior #ChronicBlogger #SpoonieBlogger #MEcfsBlogger #MillionsMissingSpeakOut #ChronicIllnessAndME #WhereTheTiredGirlsAre
Lost and Found (Pt 2)
#meawareness #chronicillnessandme The Long Resignation
It took me a long time to come to terms with just how weak my body was. But it's taken me longer to come to terms with what I lost. All of a sudden I went from having a life I knew, straight into one I couldn't wrap my head around.
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- I went missing from my hopes and dreams of working at something I loved.
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- I lost the social butterfly.
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♀️- I lost the girl that could exercise everyday.
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♀️- I lost the adventurer who could walk for miles and explore for hours.
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- I lost the girl who had just found a huge love of snowboarding!
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I lost those unpredictable moments of spontaneous joy.... the ones with my friends, my family and those times when you treat yourself and take yourself out on a date.
Those moments where you just go with the flow and expect nothing other than enjoyment.
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I LOST MY INDEPENDENCE AND MY IDENTITY
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My god it's been a long road, I could tell you about every last hardship and inconclusive appointment from the last 3 years. Every cry, every uncertainty and every moment of crushing realisation that I'm not the person I used to be... But I've never been good at holding on to things. I guess that's a good thing and a bad thing in a way....
It's good in the sense that i move on fairly quickly from things, I don't let things get me down for too long usually. But it's bad in the sense that I often find myself forgetting how far I've come and how bloody resilient this daft little blonde badass is!
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I won't lie, it's only been in the last 6 months that I've finally settled the hurt of losing the girl I was.... And I now appreciate the strength and patience I've put in along the way.
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But as good old Dumbledor says - "It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live"
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Yes it's hard, it's so hard, everyone with ME knows that this isn't your regular difficult situation that will pass.
THIS IS OUR LIFE. FOR LIFE.
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cont in comments
Day 25 of #chronicillnessandme - "Current view"
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For the past year or so I've been suffering with very bad GI problems. We've been searching and searching for an answer
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Life truly feels like a roller coaster with chronic illness. I often feel frustrated that I'm getting no where; just waiting for test results. Reading that letter that says the results are normal is heartbreaking. And I know that may sound weird, but knowing that there is something wrong and not having an answer to why is very difficult
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But yet we carry on. And there is happiness, of course there is. In fact, there's immense happiness in the midst of all of the pain and discomfort
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I just want you to know that it is normal to feel all of these things and that you are not alone
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#chronicillness #chronicillnesslife #chronicallyill #potswarrior #potsiestrong #potsies #spooniestrong #spooniesupport #chronicillnesswarrior #chronicillnessawareness #spooniefamily #spooniewarrior #spoonielife #dysautonomia #flareup #chronicdisease #potsielife #chronicdisease #invisibleillnessawareness #invisibleillness #invisibledisability #potsie #chronicpainawareness #chronicpain #mecfs
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