Today is one of those days. Anyone who has been diagnosed with an auto immune disease knows what I'm talking about. You look fine, but you feel like a truck hit you. I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia in 2009 after years of chronic pain. It started in 2003 after I was in two car accidents within a few months of each other. I struggled to get out of bed during this time and always felt tired and lethargic. The pain and aches would come and go and usually came after I had "over done it." It wasn't until I was hospitalized and my blood pressure and labs were out of wack enough that I was finally diagnosed by the Rheumatologist as havign fibromyalgia: a chronic pain disease that can be triggered by illness or stress. So I overhauled a lot of things in my life in order to deal with my illness. I changed my diet to a mainly plant-based diet and eliminated fried food, fast food and most meat. Over time, the pain subsided and I began to enjoy life again. But this weather, the sudden cold is probably bringing on a fibromyalgia flare. I felt like I was coming down with the flu last night. Walking feels like wading through water, my arms feel heavy, there's a slight headache. How do we keep going when your body feels like it is shutting down? We focus on the positive: we know that this will only last for a short period of time; we can stretch and do yoga; enjoy a warm bath; stay warm (I have on the cutest sweater today and long johns under my jeans). We keep going because we must. Because sitting still under the blanket for too long makes us more stiff and then we start to feel sorry for ourselves. Auto immune disease means our body has turned on itself. I think it is the result of experiencing trauma and our body's attempt to make since of the lingering trauma in our bodies. Many people living with fibromyalgia have had abuse (physical and sexual) as well as car accidents as part of their history. All I can do is what I can do. I will love myself through the pain and get up tomorrow to see and conquer another day. That's what survivors do...