ME Awareness Day

Its ME Awareness Day today.  Please spare a thought for those of us who struggle to live a normal life, and deal with many symptoms, including these.  Please remember that people die of this disease.  It's not a self-indulgence, though I am sure most people don't think that these days.  Pretty much everyone I mention it to, strangers and friends alike, knows at least one person who is a sufferer, and many know several.  You might like to think about the following:

• Next time you brush your teeth, stop and think about how it would feel not to have the strength to hold the toothbrush against your teeth and move it backwards and forwards.
• Sit in a chair and rest your feet flat on the floor.  Someone with ME may experience piercing pain or burning sensations in their feet and legs, just from doing this.
• Fixing your hair?  How about if you didn't have the strength to hold the hairdryer up  for long enough to dry each brushful.
• Chatting on the phone?  Think how inconvenient it would be to have to lie down for an hour after each casual phone conversation.
• That shower you took this morning?  Imagine that meant you'd have to lie down for the rest of the day because you'd used up all your energy doing it.
• Trotting up a flight of stairs?  Nope, can't do that.  How would you organise your life if you couldn't climb up stairs.  Imagine trying to go shopping with just that constraint alone.

Its the simple little things that become damn near impossible. As you go through your day today, be mindful of how much strength you are using to do those things you take for granted, like lifting that cup of tea to your lips, walking to the loo, standing up in front of the sink to do the dishes, or even simply sitting upright.  By just sparing us your thoughts, you are helping the world understand just a tiny but more.

Thank you.