Keeping Pace with Fibromyalgia

illness, then more than likely that is what we are going to continue doing. We are creatures of habit. Most of my adult life I have designated Saturdays as cleaning day. It was my habit to clean my house, from top to bottom, in one fell swoop. Granted, this usually took me anywhere from four to five hours to accomplish, but I was able to accomplish this more often than not. It took me a very long time to come to the realization that this was no longer possible. I found my breaks becoming longer and my periods of cleaning becoming shorter. Obviously, this system was no longer working for me. Now it may take me a week to accomplish what I once could in an entire day. Subsequently, I've managed to let go of my expectations of having a perfectly cleaned home, and try to focus on what really matters to me instead. Pacing is a skill I'm still struggling to master.

Acceptance. It occurred to me that one of the main reasons we may have difficulty performing pacing, on a daily basis, is that we still have not fully accepted the fact that we not able to do all that we once were. We may have accepted the fact that we have a chronic illness, with limitations, but we still have not accepted all that this entails. Knowing our limitations doesn't mean that we should never test these limits or stretch our boundaries; instead, it just means that we are mindful, vigilant, and sensible when doing so. Acceptance may mean different things to different people. To me, it means owning our illness by acknowledging the effect it has on our lives, and learning to live well in spite of it. Until we achieve total (body, mind, and spirit) acceptance we may be doomed to being chronic over-doers who overburden ourselves 'til we crash and burn.

Perfectionism. This is not to imply that we all think we are perfect. It simply means that many FMers are driven, Type- A personalities, who have the constant need to be in control at all times. When a job is just as easily done by someone else we tend to think that we must do it or it will not get done - at least not to our standards. We tend to fuss about the minute details of everything we do, and leave no stone unturned in our pursuit of a job well done. It is extremely difficult for us to let go of control and hand

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