For many of us who have CFIDS, FM, IC Disease or other chronic illnesses, life as we once knew is a thing of the past. A lot of us have had to give up careers that we really loved due to our health.
You will find that most of us also were very motivated, outgoing people who set goals and had our futures all planned out. I know I did. For me, I love setting goals because it gives me something to look forward to and helps me cope with my illnesses. No matter how small, it gives me that sense of accomplishment and works wonders for my self-esteem. Although my goals have had to change and really can no longer be career oriented, you will see that there are still many types of goals that can be set.
Like I have mentioned in other posts, I try to focus on what I can do and am learning to respect my body’s limits. So for anyone who is healthy reading this, these goals may seem very simple and easy for you but for me and others like myself, they are a big deal. I hope this will give those of you who are ill some inspiration and that this will make you think of goals you can set for yourself.
Do not get overwhelmed! Take each goal one step at a time, as you are able, and you will reach your goal. When setting goals it is important to set time lines. However, with illnesses such as CFIDS and Fibromyalgia, we never know what each day holds for us physically. Being able to stick to time lines is not always feasible. Do not get yourself stressed out if you are not able to achieve your goal by your time line. Just put it on for the next week or month’s goals. It’s okay. Even healthy people do not always achieve goals by their time lines so don’t be too hard on yourself.
Below are some examples of goals I have set, and am currently working on, for myself:
- Teach my son something new every week (one week I focused on teaching him our phone number, the next week it was our address, his birth date, activity books, etc.)
- Read for 15 minutes a day.
- Spend 15 minutes, three times a week, straightening up clothing drawers.
- Do something each month that I have never done before, whether it be cooking something new, learning a craft, etc.
- Do something nice for someone else. Even if I am not physically able to, I can always say something nice, send a card, etc.
- Focus on taking better care of my health.
- Complete 2 pages of my son’s scrapbook each month.
- Type on my blog a minimum of 3 times per week.
- Plan a date night with my husband one night a month.
These are just a few ideas of goals that I have been working on. Use your imagination and start making YOUR list! Please comment and let me know what YOUR goals are and how setting the goals has made you feel!
Leave a Reply