Fight Fibro With Optimism
In many ways, pessimism is a logical response to fibro. Fibro is a chronic medical condition. It cannot be cured. It cannot be eliminated. It can only be treated with varying levels of response. When you look at your future with fibro, it looks bleak.
This is the problem. More so than the factors contributing, the overall life outlook will be your greatest enemy. This foe has been gathering momentum since your diagnosis.
What was once a small pebble of fibro has been adding mass and building speed over the weeks, months and years. Now, it is a powerful force that seems invincible. This is how fibro wins. It convinces you that it is too massive and frightening to be beaten, so you don’t even attempt to face it.
This enemy must be challenged, though. Otherwise, the result is the suicidal ideation and attempts described earlier. To combat this foe, you must fight back with an approach that is focused on slowing the momentum, stopping the force, and beginning to build motion in your direction. Rather than small, specific tasks, this challenge requires broad changes. Want to fight your fibro? Here’s how:
Be Realistic
Are you going to wake up one day pain-free? No. Are you going to get great sleep every night? No. Are you going to have zero mental health concerns? No.
Fibro will cause problems in your life. You can take measures to physically change these aspects, but a better use of your time is to change your perceptions and expectations of these. The negatives in your life do not cause distress. It is the disparity between expectations and reality that create distress. By being more realistic with your expectations, you will have less pessimism.
Be Patient
Some people choose to battle fibro with all-out effort to quickly undo the damaging effects of the disease. While this approach may work for some, you would do better to address this as a marathon, not a sprint.
By viewing the disease as something that will take a concerted effort over many years to combat you limit your frustrations by building patience. Your symptoms will not change immediately, but if you can work to build your optimism, you can reach your goal eventually.
Be Kind
Usually people will preach the virtues of kindness towards others, but this is regarding the kindness towards yourself. Fibro will work to turn you against yourself. By being kind to yourself, you fight back against fibro.
This can be accomplished by praising your accomplishments and being understanding of your shortcomings. If you lose faith and belief in yourself, pessimism takes hold.
Fibro is a powerful foe. The direct results of pain, mental health issues, fatigue and poor sleep are tough enough to manage. When you add the indirect results that end with suicidal ideation, attempts, and completed suicides, the disease becomes more ominous.
The battle worth fighting is over optimism. If fibro steals this quality from you, your situation will be painful. If you still have your hope, hold on to it. If fibro has corrupted it, strive to recover it. If you can keep hope alive, it can keep you alive.
