Any one that knows me will know I’m not that great at slowing down. At least, I wasn’t. As my health has deteriorated, I’ve been forced to learn how to live slower and I’m still learning. I won’t claim to have found my stride in living a more paced life. I’m a work hard-play hard kind of person at heart so its hard to face the fact that living and working that way is only making me more and more ill. To rub salt into the wound, with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue you can spend days doing nothing and still wake up feeling like you’ve gone ten rounds with a heavyweight.

For a long time, I’ve adopted a motto of “if I’m going to feel bad doing nothing, I’m going to do whatever makes me happy”. For the most part, this is a great philosophy to live by but with fibro and CFS/ME it is also a little misguided. Especially when I complete the motto with “whatever the cost”. It’s only the last few months as my health has really suffered and isn’t recovering that I’ve recognised that this was an angry response of denial against the limitations that my conditions place on me.

I’ve had to do a huge amount of mental readjustment over the last few months, and rethink how and what I choose to do with myself. From wishing I could go for a run, I’m learning that sometimes (a lot) the sofa is the best place for me to be. Instead of working full time and more, I’m in the process of renegotiating my hours to part time. I’ve not had any real choice in this, and at times over the last few months I’ve found this lack of control over the situation overwhelming. If I was going to define a new motto it would have to be “To live my life as well as possible (AWAP)”, inspired by Chronic Babe and her AWAP Wednesday series. (Seriously, if you want some awesome chronic life advice she’s the best place to start).

I know that my situation isn’t unique, and many of my spoonie friends have been through the same. Just as more will face this in the future. So, in the spirit of finding the good in the bad, I wanted to share some of the things that have been helping me adjust to life in the slow lane. In and around copious amounts of rest, sleep and generally not doing anything at all.

Cat cuddles – hey, you can’t snuggle kittehs on the move, so having a fur ball stuck to your chest is a great way to slow down! Books – reading is a great way to chill out. With chronic illness sometimes there isn’t the brain power but when there is, get a good book out and get stuck in. As a side note, if you read via a kindle app on a phone or tablet consider investing in a kindle or buy actual books for a more spoonie friendly reading experience. Music – listening and playing. Keep it quiet if noise is a problem but have it on in the background. It will help mask environmental noise and can make it easier to rest. If you play an instrument and you can still play, do. It doesn’t have to be for long, but its a great way to feel that you’ve achieved something. Move – it doesn’t have to be much but its important. Just stretch a bit, or take a short walk, or do some gentle yoga. Nothing strenuous, just move a little bit. And some days if its too much, that’s OK. Get outdoors – OK, light and noise can be too much sometimes so getting outdoors maybe isn’t always as easy as some of the others on my list but fresh air is incredible. Even if its just sitting by the back door let some fresh air blow over your face. It can help lift some of the fog and ease a fuggy head, just a little bit. Talk to friends – online, over the phone or over a coffee. Whatever you can handle, but keep in touch with people. It helps you feel part of life and not entirely a passerby. Remember the good things – this is a big one. Even on the bad days, there will be good things; a bird hopping across your garden, a package from the postman, a good tv show. I got myself a Happiness Journal to make sure I captured the good things. On bad days, its awesome to end it thinking about the good bits that snuck in.



These are all things that are helping me, but if you have other suggestions for adapting to life in the slow lane, please add them in the comments section below.

Chronic Friday linkup: http://alifewellred.com/chronic-friday-link-15/