When you have a chronic pain condition, it can often impose certain limitations on your abilities. But as those living with pain day in and day out know, this doesn’t just mean you might not be scaling Mt. Everest anytime soon. Pain can have an impact on almost every aspect of your life – even the most mundane, minute tasks other people may not give a second thought to.

Mighty contributor Candida Reece recently shared an essay detailing what 50 everyday tasks feel like for her as someone with fibromyalgia. “Most may seem dramatic to you if you don’t have chronic illness, but I promise they really aren’t exaggerated much at all,” she wrote.

We wanted to shed some light on the reality of what it’s like to go about your life with any type of pain condition, so we asked our Mighty community to share an everyday task they struggle with, and what this task feels like for them because of their chronic pain.

To all the chronic pain warriors out there fighting just to get through each day, we see you. You’re not alone.

Here’s what our community shared with us:

1. Getting Out of Bed

“Getting out of bed means I need to be prepared for a high level of pain to start with, which often means I don’t want to leave my bed at all.” – Jen A.

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“I’d say one of the hardest tasks to do is get out of bed. I’m always in pain [and] so stiff when I wake up. I feel like I’m 80 even though I’m only 36. I just sit on the edge of the bed and count down and just push myself up, take a deep breath and pat myself on the back. I’ve started another day! I did it!” – Jen K.

2. Taking a Shower

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3. Getting Dressed

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4. Tying Your Shoes

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5. Fixing Your Hair

“Styling my hair used to be a big one. I say used to because the pain from doing my hair (drying it, straightening, ponytails, etc.) was too much… so I chopped off my long hair into a pixie cut! I miss my long hair a lot at times, but my arms just couldn’t take it.” – Jessica

6. Brushing Your Teeth

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7. Eating

“Chewing because I have chronic jaw pain so eating is very painful.” – Annie F.

8. Standing

“I still have to work a full-time job. I find it difficult to sit or stand for more than 10 minutes at a time. The pain is so bad at times I can’t stand it! I’ve been doing a lot of crying lately.” – Karen U.

“Standing at a stove for a long while to make something to eat. I always have to sit somewhere nearby because the nerve pain in my feet makes standing in place for a long while so uncomfortable.” – Kerry

9. Sitting

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“I can’t sit for more than 10 minutes at a time, so eating, doing homework, reading, driving…” – Sarah S.

10. Going Up Stairs

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11. Doing the Dishes

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12. Washing Clothes

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13. Cooking

“Cooking meals. By the time I get them made I’m too tired to eat it.” –pearsonjulie4

“Cutting vegetables (sweet potatoes are the worst). I get burning in my knee and leg from standing and my neck and shoulders go into pain stabbing spasms. By the time I’m done cooking I’m in so much pain I can hardly eat anything.” – Debbie C.

14. Doing Housework

“Trying to keep up with housework. I never get ahead.” – Nikkij

15. Lifting Heavy Objects

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16. Writing

“Writing! I’m a student and taking notes in class is really hard because I have chronic finger pain which sounds really random but is actually really painful.” – Annie F.