Rolling Out New Blogging Plan

You may have noticed that it’s been mighty quiet in here lately. In fact, I’ve let my blogs go idle so long, I’m having to fight through thick layers of dust and cobwebs to reach you tonight. Well, perhaps not literally, but certainly figuratively. My mind has been bogged down by many things the last few months. There were two deaths in my family. I got caught up a little too much in NaNoWriMo. The holidays swept through my home. i had to deal with having a mega cold from h*** and a resulting fibromyalgia flare that left me reeling. And now my family is dealing with a medical crisis with my mother. Yes, that’s a LOT of dust and cobwebs, my friends.

However, I’m hard at work planning, revamping, and brainstorming, so I can give a fresh face to my blogs in 2014. So stay tuned. I have a feeling my blogs are going to be more awesome than ever before. It’s time to turn my blogging up a notch and go bravely into deeper blogging territory. Sounds like a lot of fun, huh?

Stop back next week to check out my blog renovations. And thank you in advance for understanding as I fumble my way through the transition to something bigger and better! Take care, my friends, and thank you for your continued support in my blogging adventure.

© 2014 Amanda R. Dollak

If Blogs Were Houseplants...

If blogs were houseplants, I would be in serious trouble!  They would surely be dead by now.  I have been neglecting my blogs lately.  They are shriveling and drying up.  They are crying out desperately for some love and attention.  And I really don’t blame them…

When I started all three of my blogs I didn’t really have a plan.  It was more of an impulse.  I had some ideas.  I live to write.  I wanted some place where I could write whatever inspired me.  And it wouldn’t hurt for me to have some extra writing practice either.  So, I jumped in headfirst, eager to test the waters.

At first, my enthusiasm carried me along.  Sometimes I would go a few days without posting, but I eagerly came running back  I never run out of ideas to write about, so I was convinced that at least three posts per blog per week would be a breeze.

Boy, was I wrong!  I never planned on my son having difficulties in school and needing much more of my attention for the 2012-2013 school year.  I had underestimated how greatly my fibromyalgia affects my concentration and my ability to sit at a desk.  I hadn’t planned on my mom getting married or the week-long vacation that followed.  Oh, and I never realized how insane it can be to plan your own wedding in only three months.

I know, excuses, excuses.  Blogs are a commitment and when we start them we make a promise our readers to keep them up and running.  Still, knowing now where I went wrong from the beginning, I can now make a new beginning and start over fresh.  From now on, I’m going to put regular posts into my schedule, and even if it is only once a week per blog until I get my true blogging legs, at least I can revel in the consistency.

Thank you for understanding and supporting my journey into blogging.  I hope you continue to check back in the coming weeks to see what new posts I have in store.  You never know what new treasures you might find amongst all this blogging dust!

A to Z April Blogging Challenge Reflections

With chronic illness looming over our heads every day, it is so easy to go into survival mode. All we start caring about is making it through one more day, hour, or even minute. Our main purpose in life becomes trying to find relief for our symptoms and a way to cope. In reality, though, if we allow ourselves to remain in survival mode, we actually cease to live. We forget to laugh, enjoy, and dream. We forget that life has a purpose and that we have an obligation to discover that purpose.

The A to Z April Blogging Challenge has helped me realize that I have been losing faith in my future and in my dreams. Fibromyalgia hijacked my life over 4 years ago, and a part of me is still there. I am still in shock that I am now disabled. I am still left wondering what is left for me since my body no longer can handle even everyday chores at times. And a part of me is too afraid to dream and hope for a better tomorrow again.

I guess I had assumed that if I rested and did this or that that I’d get a handle on my fibromyalgia and I could go back to living again. I had assumed that once my symptoms were more under control, I could go back to finish my education, start my criminal justice career, and pursue my writing dreams. But for whatever reason, my fibromyalgia is still going strong—and unwittingly, I’ve allowed it to convince me that my dreams are no longer valid.

Well, the 2013 A to Z Challenge has given me an addictive taste of freedom. I may be a prisoner in my body at times and fibro fog may interfere with my mind, but I am meant for more than this. I am meant to dream. I am meant to imagine. I am meant to share my thoughts and ideas. I am meant to stay true to myself and to write to my heart’s content.

From now on, I promise myself to not allow my chronic illness to sabotage my dreams and deepest desires. I long to write every day and that’s what I plan to do. Some days I might only manage a few minutes, but I won’t allow my fibromyalgia to steal another part of my life away. This is my life. No matter how much I hurt or how fatigued I become, I choose to actively live it.

Will you join me today and tell your chronic illness that enough is enough? Will you once again dream with me and embrace again the things that you love? Chronic illness may have changed the way we must live, but let us never again allow it to keep us from living!

M...Mistakes and Setbacks

When we must deal with chronic illness we seem to have more than our share of mistakes and setbacks. We have a myriad of obstacles that we must overcome in addition to the normal challenges that a healthy person must face. We may have to start each day never truly refreshed, pushing through our daily lives with much of our energy already depleted. Also, we often must fight through pain that is always present to some degree. Many of us additionally have a handful of other symptoms which we must juggle each and every day. This makes failure and problems quite common in our lives.

When I set goals for myself I often underestimate the effect my fibromyalgia can have on my life. This month I decided to join the A to Z Blogging Challenge with all three of my blogs. Since I am unable to work outside my home, I have been trying to expand my freelance writing drastically. I hope someday to make a comfortable income from my writing. My fibromyalgia, though, loves to get in my way. It can prove to be difficult to write through the pain, fatigue, and brain fog. However, I was determined to stretch my writing abilities to the limit, so I can learn to be more efficient as a writer. 

Unfortunately, I wasn’t expecting my fibromyalgia pain to settle in my hands. I also didn’t plan on the stress of my dog getting seriously ill and having to undergo emergency surgery last week. As a result, I got behind on the blogging challenge. Part of me is so angry and frustrated with this setback.

I have decided, though, to use this anger and frustration to my advantage. Instead of giving up and telling myself that finishing this challenge is impossible, I found a way around my pain. Since my hand pain is making typing unbearable, I have set up a speech recognition program on my computer. It isn’t perfect. It doesn’t always understand my words. I have to make corrections at times. And it even has stopped working twice, requiring me to restart my computer. Nevertheless, I’m pleased to say that I am now caught up with the blogging challenge on my writing blog, and I am determined to get the rest of my posts up to date on this blog and my parenting blog.

Mistakes and setbacks are a fact of life, especially for us who suffer from chronic illness. But that doesn’t mean we should roll over and give up on our dreams and lives. Sometimes we have to be super creative and determined to make it through the challenges. Sometimes a solution is not readily available. Regardless, we cannot allow ourselves to give up because life is not life if we fail to live and grow. I encourage you to not lose hope and not give up on your dreams and goals for life. You’re not alone. We can do this together. We can be strong together. We can stay determined together. We can succeed together!

Let the A-Z Madness Commence!

So often, people with chronic illnesses are seen as lazy or as underachievers.  The craziest part is we are actually the exact opposite.  We push ourselves to the limit and beyond on a regular basis.  Every time I overbook myself, stretch myself thin, or get myself in way over my head, I have to laugh the irony of it all.  And boy, I'm laughing away tonight!

I'm currently working on quite a few projects this month, one of which is the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge.  With all three of my blogs (Fibro and Fancy Free, Parenting From Aaah! to Zzz, and Amanda R. Dollak), I will be blogging my fingers off this month.  I will be writing posts for every letter of the alphabet--three times since I've entered three blogs--all within 30 days!

Will I finish in time or will I break long before the finish line?  Even I am a little nervous.  I hope you stick around this month and read some of the interesting posts I have in store for all my fibro and chronic illness warriors.  I'll finally be posting a lot of the ideas that have been brewing since before the birth of this blog.  And hopefully, after the A-Z Challenge, I will keep the helpful posts coming more on a regular basis.

I hope all my warriors are staying strong, and I wish the best of luck to my fellow A-Z bloggers. Here's to a fun, frenzied, and fulfilling April!

Fibromyalgia Survival Tools: Laptops

As a freelance writer, I can spend hours upon hours at my computer writing and engaging in social media. My writing is currently my only source of income. It is my life and a part of who I am, too.

Nevertheless, as any of you with chronic pain can attest, the body often can’t keep up with everything else. In fact, as I was sitting at my desk writing tonight, I was overwhelmed by a sudden and painful muscle spasm in my lower back. And immediately, I had to get out of my chair and lie down.

This could have easily put a damper on my inspiration and might have brought my writing to an abrupt halt. As a fibro veteran, though, I just switched to lounge mode. I broke out my heating pad and laptop (both of which I keep readily available by my bedside), plopped (well, more like crawled) into bed, and continued from where I left off with my laptop.

Ultimately, laptops are one of the inventions I thank God regularly for. I really can’t imagine my life without my laptop. With the hand cramps I get now while writing and my inability to handle sitting in a chair for too long, I might have given up on my writing long ago. But my laptop gives me much more freedom and flexibility to deal with my unpredictable fibromyalgia.

At one time, I thought that fibromyalgia would be a death sentence--an end to my quality of life and the termination of my dreams. But I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Having fibrmyalgia can be difficult, but it doesn’t HAVE to stop your life. Never give up. Find ways around your medical condition. Never stop growing and evolving. Ultimately, if the desire is strong enough inside of you, you WILL find a way!

Spreading My Fibro Story

I just started writing for a new site called Bubblews.com.  As my first article, I submitted a piece about the top 3 things I feel everyone with fibromyalgia should not live without.  I am hoping by spreading the word about fibromyalgia on more sites, understanding will grow and more people will receive the proper support they deserve.  If you are new to fibromyalgia, have a loved one suffering from this difficult condition, or are simply curious, stop on over and read a little more about my story and my take on coping with fibromyalgia:

Top 3 Fibromyalgia Essentials
Submitted by ARDollak on March 08th, 2013
Category: Health

The National Fibromyalgia Association(1) explains that fibromyalgia “is characterized by chronic widespread pain, multiple tender points, abnormal pain processing, sleep disturbances, fatigue, and often psychological distress.” As a fibromyalgia sufferer, I personally know how difficult and frustrating this chronic condition can be. It can turn your entire life upside down, leaving you feeling lost, hopeless, and alone. It affects your relationships, your work life, and even the simplest of chores. You can go from a completely happy and active individual to someone who can’t even make it out of bed on the worst of days. Because fibromyalgia is a difficult syndrome to treat, there are 3 things that are vital for those with fibromyalgia.

Continue reading here.

Why Keep Fighting Fibromyalgia?

I must keep writing, no matter the obstacle!

Sometimes fibromyalgia makes us doubt ourselves and the things that we do. It is so easy to wonder what’s the point of fighting every day when it is so hard and doesn’t seem to be getting us anywhere? Wouldn’t it be simpler to just give up and only do the bare minimum? Fibromyalgia saps so much energy in the first place, so why should we waste what little we have left?

Every now and then, this annoying train of thought gets stuck in my head, particularly whenever I have problems sleeping. This week I have struggled with these thoughts quite a bit. I’ve been achy, twitchy, and throbbing from head to toe for days, making good sleep impossible. I’ve been up until 1, 2, even 4 am this week, trying desperately to get my mind to ignore the endless, chaotic messages my body is currently sending to my brain.

But on top of this, inspiration has been bombarding me, as well, these last few nights. Countless ideas, poetic lines, and new projects have been popping into my mind…and being the creative person that I am, I can’t possibly ignore a single one! Yet, being the exhausted, cranky person that I become when I have too many restless nights in a row, I’ve started doubting and attacking my writing again:

I should be sleeping, so why am I allowing myself to get distracted? Where has my writing gotten me so far? It seems to cause more trouble than it’s worth these days since it’s keeping me up at night and sapping precious energy. I can’t work at it full time, so why even try?

Yeah, it would be pretty easy for me to call it quits, and the ideas would slowly fade away as I chose to ignore them time and time again. Still, where would that really leave me? Fibromyalgia has taken my college education, made it null and void (at least for now), and rubbed it in my face more times than I’d care to recall. I can’t physically handle a job outside my home. But at least with freelance writing, I still get a sense of purpose, usefulness, and satisfaction…despite my life-altering chronic illness.

Additionally, I can’t forget that writing is a big part of who I am. Cancelling my regular writing time is one of the worst things for my health and state of mind. If I don’t write and share my thoughts, ideas, and experiences, I emotionally get all clogged up and I feel completely off. I suffer from mental constipation, too. All in all, I’m a cranky, stressed, and off-balanced individual when I ignore my natural desire to write. I’ve been there and done that…and I don’t plan to go there ever again!

Lastly, who am I to stand in the way of what I am meant to be doing? If I have the desire and the ability to write, there has to be a purpose. God doesn’t give us gifts and talents without a reason. I haven’t a clue what he might have in mind for my writing abilities, but I’m going to do everything I can to follow my heart. It may be hard at times as I struggle with fibromyalgia’s multitude of annoying and sometimes debilitating symptoms, but I’m going to be true to myself and write every chance I can. There isn’t any other possible way for me to live my life and still be happy.