Running on Empty

With Christmas just a short week away, some of us with fibromyalgia may be running on empty. Our energy levels may be so low that we are overcome with extreme fatigue and depression. Our pain levels may be higher due to all the stress of the holidays. For some of us, the weather may be increasing our pain levels.

What are we to do when the rest of the world is also running on empty, but we have to deal with not only the stress that everyone else does, plus cope with our fibromyalgia? We can give up and just become depressed because we can't do all that is expected of us, or we can spend enormous time and energy trying to get others to help us more. It has been my experience that trying to get my family to help me just wears me out, so I don't ask them to help me with certain things anymore, but I do expect them to be responsible for helping to make the holidays a pleasant time for us all. If I can't get the baking done, then I refuse to listen to complaints about the lack of goodies in our house when they are capable of doing the baking. The house can be messy and dirty if they are unwilling to clean it, but I've taken a step to obtain a housekeeper who will have it cleaned before Christmas Day. If it means that there is less money for gifts after paying a housekeeper, then that is the consequence of not getting the help that I need during the holidays.

Going to the mall to shop is not a pleasant venture for me during December, but if I just go to the mall and sit and watch the people rushing to purchase the perfect gift for someone, and look at the expressions on their faces, I'll probably see frustration, anxiety, and fatigue. That is not what the holidays are meant to be. I may not be able to find the perfect gift for each person on my list, but it is the giving of the gift that is more important than the gift itself. I may not be able to purchase all the gifts this year that my family expects, and I'm having my children help out by doing some of my shopping for me. However, I still want to purchase the small gifts for the stockings, and I plan to spend a few hours doing that on a day when I can return home and rest afterwards.

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