Today I told you that I would reveal the ‘Magic Pill’ I found to help me deal with my fibromyalgia. But first, did you give this any thought as to what your magic pill could be? It is a fact that there is no cure for fibromyalgia at this moment. However, if you do this one simple thing consistently it will improve your quality of life. Why am I so sure of myself in this? Because I have found one and you will be surprised when I tell you.
I invite you to have an open mind as to what I am about to tell you. After 25 years since my diagnosis in 1989 the past 3+ years have been some of the most rewarding parts of my life. This was after a 5 year stunt of becoming a ‘pajama junkie’. I was sick and tired of living this way. It had become a very isolating life. My sleep patterns were erratic and many stopped calling me because they didn’t know if I was sleeping or not. If someone did stop by, odds were I would be in my pajamas and I would be so embarrassed.
I had been trying to get my home in order. During this time I was very ill. I would make some progress and then fall back into old ways. I would crisis clean and then crash to do it all over again. I was following Flylady and was the closest I had gotten into ‘getting it’. Flylady has monthly habits to practice and then add an additional one each month. Every time March Habit ‘Getting Dressed To Shoes’ rolled around I thought that is not for me. I can get just as much done in my pajamas compared to getting dressed to shoes. I had all kinds of excuses for not getting dressed to shoes. The following are two of them.
1. I didn’t want to get my clothes dirty. This makes no sense at all. It doesn’t matter if you are wearing street clothes or pajamas, both will get dirty.
2. I can’t handle confining uncomfortable clothes. Get rid of them and instead of buying a new pair of pajamas, find a pair of comfortable pants that would not bother you if you had to run out to the store. In fact there are PLENTY of comfortable clothes on the market. You just have to get creative and look for them.
I have learned I cannot wear low riding jeans. They hit me on a scar I have on my hip and it gets irritated. Still it doesn’t give me the excuse to wear pajamas instead. I just can’t wear low rise jeans. There are other styles and that is where I go. Am I hip in style? I am hip in style for me. If I am in clothes that I feel comfortable in it is going to show in all areas of my life.
March 2011 Flylady’s Habit Of The Month
Each month Flylady has a monthly habit to practice in which you practice it for 30 days and beyond. Every 30 days comes a new month and habit and one just adds it onto the others.
March habit is ‘Getting Dressed To Shoes’. I knew this was going to be a challenge. I started the habit anyway. I really couldn’t imagine what it would be like to get dressed to shoes every day.
Day 8 rolled around. For some reason I did not want to get dressed to shoes. I had to talk myself into it kicking and screaming all the way. Day 9 came and the same thing happened.
On Day 10 it was a repeat of Day 8 and 9. I could find myself becoming weaker at winning over getting dressed to shoes with myself.
I Got An Idea!
I really wanted to challenge myself to the March habit for 31 days. I needed this. How can I continue and see Day 31? By taking a ‘selfie’ with a sign that said the numbered day.
I received wonderful responses and cheering on when I posted the ‘selfie’ on Flylady’s facebook page and in my group. I also wrote something about my day.
I loved the high! Suddenly my pain wasn’t so bad. It was still there but nothing like it had been. I was loving this feeling. My life became MORE than Fibromyalgia!
I soon realized in order to keep this habit going, I was going to have to adjust some things and take the best of Flylady from her system that I knew was important and practice with some of it. You see before, I was trying to do it all but get dressed to shoes and kept failing.
Coming To Terms
On Day 17 I had the same feelings of kicking and screaming that I did on Day 8. I was worried. Now, I had started taking ‘selfies’ and many were looking for the photo each day.
I decided if I was going to continue this habit I would begin to Get Dressed To Shoes ‘Just For Today’. As Martin Luther King Jr. says, “You don’t have to see the top of the stairs to take the first step.” That would be my mantra.
I found I went through this process of not wanting to get dressed to shoes approximately every 8 or 9 days. Eventually I was kicking and screaming less and less.
This daily ‘selfie’ and mini blog post continued publicly on Facebook for 436 consecutive days. Today I am still going strong. Do I have days where I feel like kicking and screaming rebelling to get dressed to shoes? Of course I do. The difference is I now have enough data to compare my pajama days to my getting dressed to shoes days. I am happy to report that the latter continues to win.
What Changed?
I got more involved with people again. I started gardening again. Yes, I have fibromyalgia and from the habit getting dressed to shoes, suddenly my ‘what others think of me or whether they believed me ‘because I didn’t look sick’ feelings finally went away. I can laugh and still be in pain. Today I know in order to maintain my fibromyalgia I can never go back to being the ‘pajama junkie’ I once was. When someone knocks at the door I don’t have to make a mad dash to hide hoping they go away soon. I don’t have to hear comments of ‘You are always in bed ‘ anymore either. I do have some things I can offer to society even if it is just the smile on my face.
The following is the video that Marla Cilley also known as The Flylady made of my 365 days of flying with one of her songs from one of her cds.
By now, you know what my magic pill has been. I am not sure it will work for you. It is up to you. I know since I took the challenge, many have started this daily habit to be part of their day. I challenge you.
From the success of my daily habit, I created Dance Till You FLY! System featuring nine non negotiatiable habits each day every day to take care of yourself, your family, and your home and garden. I invite you to take a look at it. It is a good solid system that assists you into functioning each day and allows you to do more on the days you feel better.
What ways have you learned to manage your fibromyalgia and do you think how I have approached it will work for you?
6 thoughts on “Part Two Of Two – Fibromyalgia Isn’t A Death Sentence”
Good for you! I’ve used some of FlyLady’s tips and routines before…It would probably to me good to start them again too 🙂
Great! I have a secret group if you are interested in joining. Thank you for commenting.
I don’t have fibro bu t I do have chronic fatigue symptoms (not diagnosed with CFS or antyhing). I don’t have a problem getting dresssed to shoes, although I much prefer to wear just socks indoors, but I sleep in my clothes anyway. I should really kick this habit.
I have CFS as well. The thing I learned most is that by having some structure, it seems to be easier in dealing with it. The shoes are simply a cue to do things and some don’t need that. Thank you for commenting.
Did you all know that fibromyalgia is what my granny and great granny called rheumatism? And there we thought we had come up with a new disease… lol But fibromyalgia can be reversed with diet…I’ve seen it done many times in working with people to heal their bodies naturally. Now it isn’t an easy diet…it’s leaving off processed foods…and sugar and really ‘the foods we love’ 🙁 But it DOES work. And Astrid…you’re actually doing your body good by running around in your socks all day…because that connection of body to ground/floor has a health benefit on your body. This was a really good and informative blog. I started out studying the Side Tracked Sisters back in the 1970’s…and Flylady is a spin off from them…Marilyn is a spin off of FLY lady lol….Side Tracked Sisters changed my life back in the 1970’s and I’m SO SO thankful I found them when they first came on the scene way back when…I wasn’t a messy housekeeper even back then…but it turned me into a ‘perfectionist’ with an unorganized mind…but I can still keep things in order… and it’s made me a fanatic about cleaning and making our home and gardens warm and fuzzy…..
You are right if all a person had was fibromyalgia. Usually there are other issues too. I try to eat as healthy as I can. That is why I raise a vegetable garden. It is so hard to stay away from processed foods. Now a well known greek yogurt that says it is all natural is made with gmo milk. I do gluten free pasta and you pay a price for it. That is a luxury for me. What is sad is the medication I take is more reasonable to buy than the healthy foods in the store. Now with the cost of living increasing it is difficult to live off of a disability check and the area that I can only cut back to is food. A vicious cycle indeed.
Yes, Flylady came from the slob sisters. I don’t know if I would have been able to keep track of all those cards. I would love having them and playing around with them. I am just afraid I would get overwhelmed. There are many that have spun off of them including Flylady. My system could be called a simplified flylady. My number one focus to teach others is to establish nine non negotiable habits each day every day, have weekly habits for specific days, and break your home into zones. I will have events throughout the year. My system also builds in off days and we all have them. Of course non of it happens overnight but just like I learn about the blogging business there is a foundation to begin to practice before getting into the details. That’s what I offer is a foundation. I am trying to keep ones from giving up because they think they have to do all of it. For me it is all about learning the nines, practicing and then creating a way that is going to work for the individual. Yes, I am thankful that I found Flylady and she refers some to me that have health conditions such as myself because I figured out how to have a company ready home in spite of my disability. I have also learned that I have different seasons as to how I take care of my home. The constant that remains is the nine habits. It has been great to be outside the last couple of days and that is where I plan to spend most of my time the next few months. Especially after the winter we had. Thank you for commenting.