In 2001 I stopped teaching because of Fibromyalgia. At that time I had to come to terms with the fact that I missed the communication and performance angle of the job as much as I missed the young people and staff. For some time I needed to be introspective and work hard on managing my life in a different way and my FM symptoms in particular. I had to accept that I may never have the opportunity to work with a big audience again, and I did accept that!
This week, two things have happened to make me realise I have not lost the old ability to fire the enthusiasm of an audience by getting a message across through music, humour, pathos, and practical problem-solving. The old Pam of yesteryear is alive and well and living happily in the life of the new Pam who now successfully manages Fibromyalgia.
So what has made me so ecstatic ? Well, I gave a talk about my book “The Fibromyalgia Coach” to a great bunch of people in Chatham, Kent, all of whom have FM. I felt like the old me, getting my positive message across by all means possible to me, and enjoying every minute of the experience myself. It was helped by the totally positive atmosphere within the group anyway, so thank you Medway Fibromyalgia Support Group, I have a feeling that we will meet again!
The second thing that’s happened is that BNI (Business Network International) has seen fit to ask me to be Education Co-ordinator for my group (Chapter). Only someone like me who actually enjoyed working in Education for over 30 years and was upset at being stopped before her time could understand what it means to me to be given any role carrying the title Education Co-ordinator again! Needless to say, I shall enjoy my six months in this role.
So there we have it! There is new life with FM - it’s not the same, but basically I haven’t lost skills and abilities that I had years ago. I’ve just found new stages on which to use them. One thing remains the same though - the positive message - if I can do these things, so can you!
