My Christmas Wish List (2002)

Freedom from pain. First and foremost I wish for you all freedom from pain. The reality is complete freedom from pain may never be possible. Finding which combination of therapies, meds, or alternative treatments work best for your own individual needs, although challenging, will definitely be worth the effort if it helps you to better cope and manage the pain.Chronic pain may be your constant companion, but it doesn't have to define your life.

Initiative to become pro-active in your fight against this, as yet, incurable illness. Arming yourselves with knowledge is all well and good, but it is only the first step. Making that paradigm shift from inactive to pro-active coping means that you must then take the knowledge you've garnered and put it to good use. Enacting more effective coping skills, advocating for your own health care, making necessary life-style changes are just a few of the steps you can take to ensure a better quality of life.

Belief in yourself that no matter how fearful of the future you are you will rise above it. Fear and anxiety can paralyze you by making you feel powerless. I believe you all have the power to take back control of your lives. I believe in you - please believe in yourself. I also believe that fibro has many lessons to teach us if we just stop and listen. Our bodies may be trying to tell us something that we will only hear if we are still.

Resolve to accept the realities of fibro. In order to move forward in your lives you need to accept that your diagnosis is real before you can begin to constructively cope with it. Hiding your head under the covers, and hoping it will just go away, is not a very effective method. Believe me I know. LOL It sure didn't work very well for me. You may never be able to do all the things you once could, but that certainly doesn't mean you'll never be able to do anything ever again. It is possible to create a new reality.

Optimism in the face of adversity. I know this is easier said than done, but an optimistic attitude, rather than a negative one, really is one of the most effective tools for coping with chronic illness. It may even be that you have to work at being optimistic, I know I do, but give it a try. You may be

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