Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Why hang on tight?

I was at a concert Saturday night (yes, I paid for it on Sunday and Monday) when Emily Saliers introduced a new song as a happy, apocalyptic, typical Indigo Girls song about death. Obligatory laughter came from the audience, and as the song started I thought about one of my favorite genres of movies - apocalypse, post-apocalyptic, dystopian society type movies.

Why am I attracted to this type of movie or song? I believe that there is hope to be found in these movies and songs. The old saying goes, "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger." Fibromyalgia tries daily to steal the life from me, almost as if I were in a post-apocalyptic world of pain and chaos. The symptoms of my fibro are just varied enough to sometimes give me hope, the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.

I do have some good days, days where I am reminded of what is was like before I had fibromyalgia. Days before every fiber of my being ached with stabbing pains and sleep was not elusive. For every good day, I have two bad days. But the good days, give me a glimmer of hope, a melody of a possible miracle. Could I possibly have two days in a row without pain? Maybe three? A week? A month? Maybe be healed?

I have seen enough end-of-the-world movies to know that one doesn't miraculously return to the pre-apocalyptic life. My fibromyalgia is not miraculously going to disappear. But many times in the movies, the folks work together to build a future that is good, that is better than the bad days.

Please join me in creating a community of people with fibromyalgia, auto-immune diseases, or chronic pain who are free enough to speak of the dark side, hopeful enough to acknowledge the good side, and smart enough to Hang On Tight.

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