I changed my major 6 times in college, then I finished college and decided I wanted nothing to do with working in my degree. Everyone asked me “Well what do you like to do?” or “What do you want to do?”. Wow, thanks people I haven’t ever heard that before, you just helped me figure out my career. It’s a simple question that I could not answer. It’s a completely different ball game for people with fibromyalgia. What do I want to be? The only thing I wanted to be was not sick. My interests are sitting very still and being very quiet so I don’t hurt as much. So how do you find something that you want to do for a career when you really don’t feel good enough to do anything? This was my biggest obstacle, and these are some of my tips.

Adapt: What did you use to like before you got sick? Does it still matter to you even if you don’t have the energy for it? I wanted to be a gemologist but was too sick to go back to school. Then I wanted to work in a jewelry store but couldn’t get a job. I used to wear necklaces everyday, then even the lightest necklace seemed like it was weighing down my spine. So I switched to wearing rings, I spent some money to buy some gemstone and gold rings I loved and made me smile whenever I looked at them. Eventually my skin became so sensitive that the rings felt like they were burning my fingers. I still wear them sometimes for a few minutes at a time. Then I switched to earrings which I haven’t had a problem with so far. It was a little loss in a series of things fibromyalgia had taken from me. It was significant to me because I was frustrated that I couldn’t even do a simple thing like wear a ring, how was I supposed to accomplish anything? Once again I had to adapt what I loved to what I could do. I could not even wear jewelry anymore, but I could help other people find pieces they loved. That is when my two jewelry blogs started. I get to shop for jewelry everyday and tell people about my favorite gemstones. So what do you miss from your healthy days? How can you make that work for you? If you don’t know how to translate that into something you can do, leave a comment here and we can brainstorm together.

Assess: One of the reasons me working in jewelry stores didn’t work out was because I couldn’t stand on my feet very long and I’m so sick in the mornings. What can you do? How much can you reasonably work? What is the minimum amount of money you need to make?

Jump: It’s hard to be enthusiastic about something when you are too tired to put on shoes. I never thought I would do anything technical on the computer, so it was difficult for me to be excited about starting a website. However, once I started, I really liked it, and looked forward to work.

Goals: It helps me to have a long term goal in mind. For me, it is buying a house. Even when I have to do something mundane, or I’m too tired to work, I can still be excited about working towards owning my own home. What are your goals?

I’m so lucky to be able to find something I love, that I can do, and be able to do this for my living. I want to be able to share this with other people, so if you need help remembering your dreams, or finding a way to implement them, then please leave a comment.

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 6th, 2006 at 9:56 pm and is filed under Home Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.