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ME/CFS South Australia Inc supports the needs of sufferers of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and related illnesses. We do this by providing services and information to members.
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The Surviving ME/CFS Show – "Celebrate the wins"
Friday 1 August 2014
From Julian Roath's The Surviving ME/CFS Show:
It's easy to kick goals if you move the posts. So move the stupid posts!!! I can't do much of what I used to. That makes it all the more fantastic and wonderful, that there is still so much I can do. Once I let go of my need to "fix" everything in my life, including myself, I begin to be able to appreciate the "the progress rather than the perfection." Rather watch the video? Me too :-) |
So I ask myself, what can I do today to:
- Be in less pain?
- Reduce my exhaustion?
- Manage my symptoms?
- Maximize the health that I've still got?
- Be of help to those around me?
There are always options.
My mission is to identify these areas of influence that I still have. I focus on them, work on them, be effective in them, and achieve through them.
My No. 1 priority is to be a good father and husband. You'd think that as a ME/CFS sufferer, that my capacity to love and support my family has been reduced.
Bollocks! In truth is has never been better. When I was young, fit and handsome, I was completely obsessed with my own stuff. My hopes, dreams, plans and problems filled my head. I had little capacity to be genuinely concerned with those around me.
Because of ME/CFS, I have unique insights as a consequence of my illness. I am a better, kinder, more compassionate person. I have time and I can be there when I am needed. There is so much I can do.
I gain NOTHING from being miserable
These are the little victories, the wins that I celebrate each day.
If I cook food I win.
If I clean I win.
If I write I win.
If I love I win.
If I shower I win.
If I exercise I win.
If I poop I win.
Yes go on laugh. But those of you who have had to take pain killers long term, will agree with me when I say, "A good poop is a win!"
It doesn't matter if I can't make the big changes today. Because I make the little changes each day and they add up. They have a cumulative effect.
After putting on weight each year, getting bigger and bigger, in the last year and a half I've started to lose weight, little by little. Just by doing the right things each day.
Exercise, diet, attitude, the right medication. These all help to make me as productive as I can be with this illness.
There is much still to do amigos, and there is still so much that we are still able to do. Let's celebrate the wins and enjoy these little victories.
Who cares if things don't always work out my way. I'd rather expect the good rather than the bad. I think it gives my brain and body a little edge, a little hand up.
And I could use all the help I can get :-)
I have nothing to lose by by being optimistic.
Would you like to do some things you thought were impossible for you?
Here are some suggestion to get some wins:
- Every time you get out of your chair, do 30 seconds of exercise.
- Read a book, but do it 2 pages at a time.
- Start a project that you will enjoy, and do a little every day.
- Learn something new.
- Do just one nice thing for someone else, each day.
- Reach out to someone who is suffering more than you.
- Watch a great movie or a show.
- Eat something healthy.
- Take some drugs (the medical ones!)
- Have a brilliant attitude.
There is so much about our lives that we cannot change. But we can choose our attitude, and it is a choice. Abraham Lincoln said that, "Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”
We are not victims of our feelings. We have the capacity to improve our mood by improving our thoughts. This journey from misery to joy is not easy, but it's a direction so very worth taking.
So lets celebrate the wins and enjoy what we can do. Our physical symptoms may easier to handle, if we are not having to battle our mental symptoms at the same time.
So have a great day! Unless you've made other plans. - Jules
The above originally appeared here.
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