One of the hardest things I’ve had to deal with living with a chronic illness is taking care of myself and making sure I get what I need.  Like some other people I’ve met I tend to put the needs of others before myself.  Unfortunately when I do that I end up with a flare-up with my fibromyalgia resulting in the inability to take care of myself or do for others.

It’s a reality I deal with and this week I tried to take care of business before going off to SOBCon, a conference featuring bloggers from all over the U.S.  I thought I was taking care of myself but the truth was I wasn’t listening to my body when it started aching more, I just pushed harder.  The result was a flare-up of the fibromyalgia that I was unprepared for and I had to cancel going to Chicago for the event. 

It was a hard decision to make and while I feel a bit better today, flying to Chicago would have been difficult at best and my worry was that I would have spent Saturday in bed rather than down at the conference listening to all the wonderful speakers (although I could have done like Ellen DeGeneres did last week and have my bed down in the conference room ).    It wasn’t easy to accept not going to Chicago.  I hate when I can’t do something I had planned.  The reality in life is that we don’t always get to do what we had planned, chronic illness or not.

One of the ways I do take care of myself is through meditation and connecting with my inner voice.  I meditated a couple of times asking if it was best for me to go to the conference or not.  The answer that came was that there will be another conference, another trip to make. 

So, to Liz at Successful Blog, Ben at the Instigator Blog, Wendy at eMoms at Home, Phil at Make It Great and Adam at Monk at Work, I look forward to conversing with you through our blogs, email and phone chats and hopefully meeting you all at future conferences.

To those who read my blogs, this one and Confessions of an Infomaniac,  sometimes the fibromyalgia interferes with blogging on a regular schedule.  I blog when I can. This blog is actually being written from bed where other posts have been written from before.  A laptop computer and wireless Internet helps me to blog from anywhere in my home.  I do love modern technology! 

I am home this weekend taking care of myself with rest, good food and whatever stretching and exercise my body can take and I’d love to hear from others how they take care of themselves, especially during times of adversity or stress.  Do you tend to put other people’s needs before your own?  Do you follow a specific diet or exercise program, reach out to friends or meditate or look for spiritual guidance?