Being Overwhelmed

Overwhelmed is a word I used to associate with joy - "I'm overwhelmed to meet you!", "Your beauty overwhelms me!" I've never thought of it in the context of being overwhelmed by an illness. But that's how I've been feeling for a while now.

My illness is overwhelming me. I feel like it's beginning to become me, to define who I am, and I don't like it one bit.

I'm determined to not let fibromyalgia become me. Like some creeping algae slowly enveloping me in its insidious green slime. So far it's taken over so many aspects of my life - work, social, family. 

There's so much of the life I once knew that is now stagnated by fibromyalgia. I'm no longer able to plan anything with any certainty, family outings have to be decided on the day and can end abruptly half way through an activity, work has been reduced to just 16 hours a week - and still I have to call in sick some days, and my social life ended about four years ago.

Accepting you have an illness and accepting the limitations that illness places upon you is one thing, but allowing the illness to define who you are is an entirely different kettle of fish, and it's something I don't want on my epitaph - "Here Lies That Guy with Fibro."

I suppose I'm going to have to get myself a new mindset to accomplish this feat. I definitely need a shot of positivity to begin with, so I'm throwing this out there to ask:

"How do you keep yourself from being overwhelmed by your illness?"

"How do you stop yourself from becoming your illness?

 Answers on a postcard to.... or you can just post a comment!

All suggestions will be considered seriously.