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ME/CFS Feng Shui – How Does Your Energy Flow?

8/12/2014

4 Comments

 
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I was recently rearranging the furniture in my family room trying to improve the traffic flow.  I also just wanted a new look without buying new furniture.  As I began to move things around, I was surprised at how different the same things could look and function just by rearranging them. The energy in the room changed too.  It felt airier and brighter – it flowed better.   Of course this got me thinking about ME/CFS and how poorly my energy flowed.

For most of the first half of my struggle with ME/CFS, I didn’t regulate my energy at all.  I burnt up whatever I had then crashed.  There was no pacing.  There was no intension to plan my day around what I could reasonably handle.  And most important, there was no progress toward getting better.  The opposite was true.  I was getting worse.

Once I decided to take more control of my ME/CFS, my energy flow changed dramatically.  Instead of the abrupt go, go then stop, stop stop, I began to use my energy reserves at a slow but steady pace.  Much like the familiar Tortoise and Hare story, I was slowly getting back to wellness one day at a time.  And over a long period of time I got there.  I’m guessing that I left a few Hares behind still trapped in the cruelty of ME/CFS.


I’m sitting in my newly rearranged family room as I write.  What a difference.  The energy is flowing easily - not rushed or stopped up.  How are you managing your energy flow?  Have you embraced your tortoise?  Please COMMENT on this blog or Send in your thoughts and I’ll post them with your permission.  You can use the Contact Form or send an email to Martha at DefeatCFS dot net.  And Guest Blogs are most welcome!


Look for a weekly posting on Tuesdays.  And consider being part of the conversation.

Be Well Again,

Martha


P.S.  Donna sent in this photo and comment via email:

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I let my body set the pace.


4 Comments
Martha Kilcoyne
8/12/2014 02:16:43 pm

See Donna's comment above in a PS in the body of the blog.
Thanks Donna. Love the sloth!

Reply
Tim Boland
8/13/2014 12:50:00 pm

Donna, is the color of the sloth natural or has he/she been to the beauty parlor? :)

Reply
Tim Boland
8/13/2014 12:52:16 pm

Many thoughts come to mind with your latest blog, Martha. First of all, with my own progress, especially with thoughts raised in recent columns, I am working to reset my attitude toward my illness. When I came here to Idaho in late spring, I felt I wanted to tackle many things around here. The pressure finally got to me as I basically lost my temper with a repairman who helps with my business, and also his former girlfriend, who had been a great help for me in Seattle.

Fortunately, I have been able to repair the relationship, after apologizing to my repairman, who is a patient man and someone valuable to my business. With the woman, I have not been able to reach her since, though that was a situation where I feel many would have become provoked with her.

With this illness, I notice that when I become upset, sometimes the feelings almost take me over, which was rarely the case before the illness. I may have felt provoked or angry but there was that internal censor to help me when I was well, that governor we have within that says ‘you may feel like venting, but it is best not to’. It is amazing how things can change when we don’t feel well, and there seem to be things about this illness which prompt more abrupt responses, the irritation and frustration. The same is true of my body, that when I feel pain, it is often from over tight muscles, and it takes longer for me to have them relax out, much longer than when I was well.

Your column today illustrates again that there are others who have experienced the great difficulties in learning how to manage not only pain, but valuing our energy when we have it, conserving it and pacing. It is hard having the physical problems as they persist in a way that a normal bout of flu or another temporary illness doesn’t. It is hard being the tortoise, which implies patiently working toward a goal of long term wellness. Sometimes I just want to do everything that I could do, I just want to burst loose of the shackles that it sometimes feels hamper me from living a ‘normal’ life. It is hard to be patient but I have had more days recently, better days, and I know it is partly from an attitude toward really wanting to be well rather than focusing so much on getting things done, and partly from attending to how my body is feeling, and then going to rest or moving away from stress, as best I can.

Reply
Martha
8/13/2014 04:52:34 pm

Tim, we hear your frustration loud and clear. ME/CFS is a cruel disease. There were times when I wanted to scream at the world for being normal while I was sick. And there were times when I did scream at the people closest to me who cared and helped me the most. I hated being trapped in a body that had failed me and I especially hated that so few people understood what I was going through. Tim, we're all in this together.


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    After struggling with CFS for four years I am fortunate now to be fully well and making choices about how I want to live my healthy life.  One choice is to be an active part of the CFS community and to offer one voice from the fully recoverd to the dialogue.  I'm glad you're here!   For more about me, here's my Bio.

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