THE OPTIPESS ANOMALY

Optimist? Nope.

Pessimist, shmesimist.

It all looks the same to me.

And I'm positive it will all work out.

I guess that makes me....

an optipess.

I'm not being pessimistic, I'm thinking in a positive manner.  I'm positive that this flare is winning. I really want to feel better but my thoughts are not cooperating. 

I know that thought can do so much for your outlook and help distract you from the pain that threatens to take over every fiber of your being. There's so much that attitude can help and when chronic pain is a part of your life, you definitely need to keep your attitude in check.

I know this but I'm having a hard time doing it.

As I research right brain and left brain function, I see a startling fact. First, meditation does grow the gray matter in your brain. I'm not saying you have to sit cross legged and say ohm but some sort of quiet time focusing on nothing but relaxing your body and getting your brain waves down to something lower than an beta level would be highly beneficial. Second, thinking does affect your body and it will go in the direction of your thoughts. 

Remember, the power of positive thinking?

The beta level is most associated with our normal waking state. Beta helps with analysis, logical thinking and active attentive function. Stress can throw the beta level into overdrive. I think that I'm very familiar with the beta level in overdrive.

Negative thinking brings cortisol and other lovely things that are only intended for the flight or fight syndrome. That syndrome is there to keep us alive. It's not there to be used on a continual basis or as a way to live. That impacts your body in a very unhealthy way.

Negativity also obscures your thinking and stands between you and your realization. I heard this today and pondered on this for awhile. While I have talked myself into many, many things; self realization and having the ability to move beyond my fears isn't one of them. It would be interesting to find out how much I could really do if I didn't talk myself out of things due to fear or my inherently cynical way of thinking.

So, how do you take a natural cynic and turn that around into a positive force? I haven't figured that one out yet. I've got a litany of quotes regarding human nature.......

No good deed goes unpunished.

When you see the light at the end of the tunnel it's probably the train coming at full speed.

It's always darkest before it goes pitch black.

In the battle between you and the world.....bet on the world.

Yep,

just call me Little Mary Sunshine.........

Does this tell you anything about how I feel right now??

Very optipesstic.

BE OUTSTANDING IN YOUR FIELD

I still say it's important.

Be outstanding in your field.

People tell me all the time that my pictures show a real positive outlook on life. I smile and say thank you but, inside, I'm laughing my fanny off. 

Positive?

Me?

I guess in one sense I am. I actually do think that everything works out for the best in the end, however, getting to that point may be a little murky. So does that make me a optimist? I don't know. I do have a view of human nature and it isn't necessarily a positive one. I will tell you that I'm often wrong and it still surprises me.

Take the other day. I was at the gym and after I got off the treadmill I forgot a pair of Ray Ban sunglasses. I got all the way out to my car and then realized that I had forgotten them. I went back upstairs and they weren't on the treadmill. I was CERTAIN that someone had lifted them. My friend kept telling me to calm down and ask the front desk if anyone had turned them in. I, of course, was in over-reaction mode and told him emphatically that he was on drugs. They would DEFINITELY not be there.

They were there.

Maybe it comes from working with the public in new home sales for so many years. Don't get me wrong, I loved it and I made a lot of friends with the homeowners in the community. But for everyone wonderful homeowner there were 10 that made your life miserable. Is that the reason or do I just have snarkiness that runs through right to my soul?

Well, let's go through some of my favorite quotes:

"Weathering the storm is much easier if you're not standing knee deep in a conductor."

"When you see the light at the end of the tunnel, it's probably the train coming at you full speed."

"In the battle between you and the world, bet on the world."

"It's always darkest before it goes pitch black."

"It takes 43 muscles to smile and 17 to frown but none to sit there with a dumb look on your face."

So maybe I'm not a pessimist but I'll be the word cynic is appropriate. I know that negativity can obscure your thinking and stand between you and realization of your dreams. Actually, I think I'm positive in my cynicism. 

Does that make any sense?

Like I always say.

Not everyone gets to be an astronaut when they grow up.

MY LUCKY ROCKETSHIP UNDERPANTS

"Some days even my lucky rocketship underpants don't help."
Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson

I love Calvin and Hobbes. I always have. There's just the perfect mix of innocence and snark in this cartoon and it appeals to my sense of humor. 

It also has something for every occasion.

This is one of those times and one of those days.

I just don't know why the pain has taken up permanent residence. 2010 was a tough year for the people that I know. Fibromyalgia certainly kicked fanny last year and 2011 doesn't seem to have any changes in that arena. 

So when I wake up in the morning and it's more of the same it tends to get a tad disappointing. I want to go to the gym and, trust me, I'm going to force myself to do just that. It's just that I'm forcing myself and I'm not looking forward to the exercise that my body so desperately needs. I've walked and I've been in the pool. I have to say that the pool is definitely easier on my muscles but I'm not real keen on public pools. I guess I have turned into a little bit of a germophobe.

I got on Facebook and a friend of mine said that she's going to make today a positive day. Those words speak volumes to me in a bittersweet way. It's great that she's in a frame of mind to purpose in her heart positivity, however, she's in a frame of mind that she has to purpose to be positive. See what I mean here? There's no opening your eyes and being excited to greet the day. 

We open our eyes with fear and trepidation.

We open our eyes and gingerly move to see how our muscles are going to react. 

Are we just having a minor uprising or a full blown rebellion today?

The muscle twitches really are painful for me and those have been on a real rampage lately. So, I am also going to purpose in my heart to greet the day on a positive note. I have read the optimist's creed. Have you read it?

Promise Yourself

"To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.

To talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet.

To make all your friends feel that there is something worthwhile in them.

To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.

To think only of the best, to work only for the best and to expect only the best.

To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.

To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.

To wear a cheerful expression at all times and give a smile to every living creature you meet.

To give so much time to improving yourself that you have no time to criticize others.

To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world, not in loud word, but in great deeds.

To live in the faith that the whole world is on your side, so long as you are true to the best that is in you."

The Optimist Creed was authored in 1912 by Christian D. Larson, in his book "Your Forces and How to Use Them."

I really try to read this without smiling but by the time I hit line four I know I'm in real trouble. How do you take a person that tends to see the glass half empty and have this really hit home? There are lines of this that are no trouble. I try to always make my friends feel worthwhile but I can't always see the sunny side of life. I guess I'll have to keep reading it over and over. Maybe then it will sink in.

I think I'm being optimistic when I quote things like, "when you see the light at the end of the tunnel it may be the train coming at you full speed." That way I'm never surprised or taken off guard. I've always been a bit snarky and a glass-half-empty type of person. The Fibromyalgia just pushed it over the edge.

What?

I'm not being optimistic?

Maybe it's true.

My lucky rocketship underpants aren't helping today.

TIPS FOR DEALING WITH PAIN

I have a few tips to deal with the pain of Fibromyalgia.


Tip #1


A heating pad works wonders for the pain.

Tip #2




A heating pad combined with pain medication works wonders.

Tip #3

If all else fails.

Maybe now I can get some sleep.

THE OPTIMISTS CREED

Promise Yourself

To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
To talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet.
To make all your friends feel that there is something worthwhile in them.
To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.
To think only of the best, to work only for the best and to expect only the best.
To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.
To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
To wear a cheerful expression at all times and give a smile to every living creature you meet.
To give so much time to improving yourself that you have no time to criticize others.
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.
To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world, not in loud word, but in great deeds.
To live in the faith that the whole world is on your side, so long as you are true to the best that is in you.
The Optimist Creed was authored in 1912 by Christian D. Larson, in his book "Your Forces and How to Use Them."

I tried reading this over and over. I did. I start smiling at the fourth line and laugh out loud by the time I reach the eighth line. If you see the glass half full this would be a charming little ditty to read at the end of the day and congratulate yourself how close you may get to nirvana. For the rest of us who cannot imagine the glass half full but are fully convinced it is half empty, it is one of the funniest things I've read. I honestly don't think I could do those things even if I tried. If I did by some chance get through to the last line no one would believe those words actually came from my mouth.

You see, I want to be an optimist. In some respects I'm more optimistic than anyone out there. I have a rock solid faith and I've never been disappointed. I guess I'm more optimistic than I realize. I've never, ever been disappointed in human nature and it has never failed me.

Maybe I should write my own:

I will.................

Recognize in my weakness I am strong

Not feel the need to unload all my shortcomings on myself on a daily basis

Realize that my friends are in need too and they are my lifeline

Know that human nature will fail me

Expect the best but be prepared for the worst

Never forget the mistakes of the past but not beat myself up for them day after day....move on

Not feel the need to smile when I don't feel like it, but do it anyway for it will help me immensely plus it will keep people wondering.

Know that when I am critical of others I'm just pointing out failings in myself

Laugh at it anyway

Believe that a cynic has a place in this world too

Optimism is not all it's cracked up to be.

Does that sound so bad???

I didn't think so either.