Feel Your Happiness

Here are a group of sayings I found in a women's health magazine with my comments.

JUST DO IT: Choose to be happy

Can we "choose" to be happy when in so much pain? I believe we can. I have the hardest time being happy when I'm by myself. I feel the pain more when alone, nothing to distract me. After I've had a great visit with a friend either in person or on the telephone, my pain is increased. I never knew it took so much energy to talk...

SAY THANK YOU: Practice an attitude of gratitude

Can we have "gratitude" when fibro fog has closed your brain, you are unable to verbalize your thoughts or can't remember where you put the milk when it's not in the refrigerator? Take a deep breath and thank God your brain will eventually tell you where the milk is even if you stumble upon it while taking out the bread for lunch. :D

LAUGH EVERY DAY: Careful; it's addictive

Can we laugh when our bodies are screaming with symptoms like numbness, tingling, and stabbing, burning, aching pain (just to mention a few)? YES, absolutely! You must laugh in order to get through each day. My friends on the Facebook, Fibromyalgia site, are a wonderful diversion and provide laughter each day. I'm lucky to have a great family and very funny friends. Laughter will wear me out physically and my pain will increase, but it makes me feel happy and that is good.

LIVE LARGE: Generosity gifts the giver most

Can we be generous and receive the best gift of all when our eyes may be dry, unable to focus, seeing spots or objects in the air? When our restless legs, arms or whole body are jumping without control? Yes. Fibromyalgia sufferers are type A personalities. We volunteer for projects and committees. We bend over backwards to make sure our families and friends are taken care of. We are active in our communities to make them a better place to live. Giving wears us out physically, but the endorphins we receive are many. We are a group of givers and we feel we receive MORE than we give.

BE: Live in the moment

Fibromyalgia allows us to "be." We DO live in the momentS of our lives. Besides feeling the migraine, the throat muscles swell, the feeling of our feet going out from underneath us without warning or the intense, scary experience of being where there are many different noises and smells, there are special moments we live in. We see the color of the butterfly, a baby's sweet smile, the clouds in the sky, the expression on our family's faces, we feel the warmth of the sun. What a joy to hear the bat hitting the ball. Those without a chronic disease often miss the simple joys in life.

Have you looked at your bookmark lately? How many times do we use the bookmark to mark our place?

Does it have a beautiful picture?

A special verse?

Do you JUST use it or do you enjoy it?