Resilience is Key

Ta-dah!  I changed the title of my post.  I'll repost the past posts under the new title in the next couple of days, so they don't get lost.  I continued my research for blog titles, and found a pretty established one with my name.  What's a girl to do?  Be resilient!  That's the key to so many things in life.  I even looked up the word, resilience on Dictionary.com and this is what it said;

re·sil·ience

 [ri-zil-yuhns, -zil-ee-uhns] Show IPA

noun

1.

the power or ability to return to the original form, position, etc., after being bent, compressed, or stretched; elasticity.

2.

ability to recover readily from illness, depression, adversity, or the like; buoyancy.

I found this definition very funny because #1 is how I feel most of the time and #2 is what my body experiences most of the time.  I'm surprised my name isn't attached as an example of the two.  So, when I say that I bounce, I think most people would say that I'm resilient.  I like 'bounce' personally. 

As you can see, my new blog is called, Seeking the Gifts of Fibromyalgia.  It's pretty much the same concept and I like the word, 'seeking'.  I'm a seeker always looking to grow and learn.

Today, I was resilient in another way too.  I said 'goodbye' to the Aqua Therapy my doctor prescribed.  For years, my doctors have been trying to get me to do aqua therapy.  They all say that exercise has been proven to decrease pain.  My response has always been to tell them about the walking, swimming and joggling that I do on a regular basis.  I continue by telling them that I've noticed that I get the most benefit when it's a good cardio workout.  I can feel the endorphins and I'm sure there's a whole stream of scientific terms to explain the chemicals that decrease my pain after a good cardio workout.  All I know is that I feel better.  Never the less, my doctor's have continued to insist on the Aqua therapy.  My biggest question was, "Is it sustainable?  Once I begin, can I continue to do this therapy for as long as my fibro sticks around?" (I believe I can beat this one way or another). Of course the doctors let me know that I can only do as many sessions as my insurance will allow.  That to me sounds like a, "no, it's not sustainable".  My other concern was the drastic temperature changes from the water to the air to the locker room.  One of my triggers is drastic temperature changes and can send me into flare for weeks.

I finally decided to try it and see what benefits may come.  I told myself, "you'll never know if you don't try."  By the second session, I was in such a flare I cut down to once a week from two.  That didn't help, so today, I said goodbye to Aqua Therapy.  It was not sustainable. created more pain and discomfort and took me away from my normal exercise routine....remember....the one I told the doctor's worked for me.  So, tomorrow, I'm back to my reliable, sustainable and helpful endorphin rush.  I'm so glad I bounce!