Energy - that thing that those of us with chronic illness fight to have enough of. Yet, I've found lately that I have more and more of it. Why? Because I've stopped giving away so much energy for no return. How have I gotten my energy back? It's not been easy, and it's a struggle, but the … [Read more...]
4 Signs That You Are Doing Too Much
Are you doing too much? I've been doing more and more lately, or so it feels like. Maybe I'm not. When I compare to this time last year when I was doing a lot of freelance work, going to school full time, working in lab hours, doing non-profit work, and still blogging, maybe I'm doing … [Read more...]
Life Gets Overwhelming Sometimes
I don't know about you but for me life gets overwhelming sometimes. There is so much you want to do and often so much you need to do that it can feel like it will never happen. At least that’s how it is for me. This summer I’ve been feeling overwhelmed a lot, between keeping up with writing, plus … [Read more...]
Counting spoons with the #spoontheory
The idea of spoons when it comes to chronic illness is that spoons are akin to energy. Counting your spoons is the idea of tracking how much energy you have and what you need to do and balancing those two in hopes of avoiding running out of spoons. The idea is that healthy people have seemingly … [Read more...]
Learning the Importance of Pacing with Fibromyalgia
The Importance of Pacing and Fibromyalgia Pacing is possibly your greatest ally in avoiding the roller coaster of pain and fatigue that is often associated with Fibromyalgia. Pacing is simply the act of learning your limits and working with them. Instead of trying to complete large … [Read more...]
Sunday Inspiration: Turn Into the Skid
When you feel your car go into a skid, should you: a) try to hold the wheel as steady as possibleb) steer into the skid c) step on the brake d) take your foot off the gas e) floor it f) steer in the direction you want the car to go. I can hear you now asking "Julie, WTH does this have to do … [Read more...]
Within My Control: 5 Lessons in Pain Management
Within My Control:5 Lessons in Pain Management Guest Post by Mandy Mercuri from Take Hold of Pain Six years ago I attended a 3 week intensive hospital-based pain management clinic. It changed my life! During this course, I learned that pain is just a sensation within my body. Oftentimes the … [Read more...]
Wearables for tracking sleep and improving pain
Wearables are the latest rage, it seems; little armbands that can track everything from how many steps you take, how many moves you make, to how much sleep you get - they are watching you! I've seen them on the arms of everyone from teachers to doctors lately, and I even got one for my birthday - … [Read more...]
Jumping Out of My “Zone”
Since I started back to school this summer, we've talked a lot about how much I can handle. The first couple of weeks of my summer class were all about me getting used to having this new responsibility / schedule on my plate. All the while, I was debating whether to add a second summer class during … [Read more...]
Fibromyalgia: The Little Engine That Should
How much time do you spend thinking about things you feel you should be doing? I bet you are sitting there reading this right now thinking about all the things you should be doing today, running yourself into quite the little guilt trip. I've been there more often than I can count. And, I'm not … [Read more...]
