In the Introduction to the book, I write:

“This is a different book than the one I started out to write… it turned out that the structure I created for that book was dense and heavy and ultimately unworkable…

I had to reach a point where I gave up all hope of writing a book before the way forward presented itself…the process of writing this book is much like the process of coming to terms with fibromyalgia.

We start out expecting our lives to go a certain way, and we keep pursuing that vision of our lives, even when it becomes clear it isn’t working.

Eventually, we become exhausted trying to make something work that isn’t working until we are finally ready to do something different.

Then, when we’re ready to create a different vision of how to live our lives, the light comes in, and we find a way forward, full of hope and joy and light.”

 

So, the book I ended up writing is more like how I approach writing these newsletters, in the introduction, I say, “… I wanted this book to feel like a conversation we might have if we sat down together with a cup of tea.”

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Of course, if we were having a cup of tea together, one of the things we would talk about is my holistic BEST model for managing fibromyalgia, and if you follow my work, you will recognize that the “BEST” in the title is an acronym:

B is for Body and physical well-being

E is for Emotions and emotional and mental well-being

S is for Social Connection and social-well-being

T is for Transcendence and spiritual well-being

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The main thing all of us with fibromyalgia want is to just figure out a way to feel better, am I right?  The second half of my book shows you the way to feel better through an in-depth look at the value of a holistic, biopsychosocial-spiritual approach to managing fibromyalgia. I share lots of examples and stories from my life and from my clients to keep it real.

Each chapter ends with a section called “Let’s Reflect Together.” This is where I imagine us sitting face to face on a Zoom call, perhaps, and I would ask you, as I do with all the women I work with, “What resonated with you?  What are your takeaways from this chapter?”  Writing that sentence right now gave me goosebumps as I am so eager to get this book in your hands.