Know Thyself.

A while ago I blogged about six healthy habits to develop for living your best life with fibromyalgia. Know Thyself is the first habit you will need to develop. I also wrote about these habits in my book, (Co-author, Karen Anderson) The Shadow Boxers: Fighting Fibromyalgia Your Personal Journal I want to discuss all of these habits a bit more in-depth. Today, I will start with Know Thyself.

As a Reminder:

This is the first habit to develop once you have learned you have fibromyalgia. You must learn what it is and how to define it. It is hard enough for you to understand! How do we expect our loved ones to understand it? Learn everything you can about your diagnosis and know how to explain it in your own way. Use your own words.

During this time you are also learning to grieve for the old you. You have been diagnosed with a chronic disease, things as you knew them are gone. Life as you know it is done. But you will find your way. You will find a purpose and find the joy in life again, but first, you must grieve. For without the grief process, you will have a very difficult time recognizing your new potential.

Acceptance is a key factor in fully developing the habit of Know Thyself. You must accept where you are at, this doesn’t have anything to do with giving up or surrendering your hopes for better health. Nothing to do with it! It is learning about this new you, what you can do and what you can no longer do. There will be certain limitations but limitless possibilities! You must figure out where these possibilities lie as you begin your journey with Fibromyalgia. You must deconstruct your life in order to reconstruct it. A life that absolutely can be lived well with fibromyalgia.

Know Thyself

~Kim