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The choice is always ours!

She had been postponing it for a while but then she had to. She finally walked up to the laundry bag and picked some clothes that needed washing. A few shirts, a few dresses and some jeans, each weighing around 1-3 kg (yes, you read it right)!

One by one, she dropped them into the 6.5 kg washing machine and set the program to Fuzzy Wash. She knew it's better to wash the gentle and tough clothes separately but another round of washing? She didn't have all that energy and patience to wait. She would rather skip it and prefer the shortcut. After all, she had to even pick the partly wet clothes (each would then weigh around 2-6 kg) and then put them for drying outside on the clothesline.


And God forbid if it started raining, she would have to again carry the heavy clothes to put them for drying inside. That would mean climbing onto the little stool several times and reaching out for the clothesline fitted towards the ceiling. A shortcut made sense. And she was glad that this time no soaking was required!

She hated soaking. It had been three years since she was diagnosed with the life-altering condition. She was soaked in pain from head to toe. So much so, she sometimes felt good that hair and nails don't sense pain. Fever was a daily thing and so was the morning stiffness. She was drenched in fatigue all the time... even when she woke up in the morning, even after she took a hot water bath, even after she slept during the day!

How she used to be a water person! When she was younger, she would spend a long time in the shower, insist on washing the dishes, mopping the floor and washing the clothes. And when her family bought their first washing machine, she would always take the initiative to connect it to the tap and switch on that power button. She would love to watch the clothes spin and swirl though the glass window of the top load machine. The beep beep beep of the machine after some 50 minutes used to be her favourite part. She would immediately pick the partly wet clothes, each weighing around 0.50 to 1 kg, and put them for drying. She loved to climb up and down the little stool to stretch and reach out to the clothesline.

However, now the clothes seemed to be double the weight of what they were. She had great difficulty lifting things. She had great difficulty doing anything and everything, including sleeping. She had become quite impatient as well.

But she had decided that she won't compromise, that she won't allow Fibromyalgia soak her forever. She couldn't wait for things to be fine as she knew there's no cure for Fibromyalgia. She had to look for smarter alternatives. Like a part-time job, like typing on a touchpad, like using a memory foam mattress, like using a detergent that removed the toughest of stains without soaking... she was thankful to Surf Excel Matic for the little help it offered... she had made a good choice!


Life always throws tough challenges at us
The choice is always ours -
Get soaked in stains or wipe the slate clean!

This post is an entry for the Surf Excel Matic #SoakNoMore Contest.
If you like the post, do vote for it on IndiBlogger. Or share it on Facebook, Twitter, Mail, et cetera, et cetera... you have a choice ;)

38 comments:

  1. I read about this disease and you are doing a great job spreading its awareness Anuradha. A meaningful post and take care :)

    All the very best!

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  2. Thanks Saru! With every post I intend to reach many. Your likes and comments contribute in a way you can't imagine! Thanks :)

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  3. great post Anuradha!!!never heard about it before .. thanks for the awareness

    http://styledestino.blogspot.com/

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  4. Thanks SJ! Even I had not heard about it until I got it ;) It took me a while to pronounce it right!

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  5. very well written...woven so bautifulyl with what you actually write about...kudos!

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  6. Anuradha, I thought it was just a story,(a touching one), but then I noticed your comment above :(
    Hope you get the strength to deal with it. You're doing a great job by spreading awareness and I am sure there are people, benefiting by reading this wonderful blog here.
    Good Luck!

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  7. I love the connection you've made between the prompt and your effort to bring awareness! Beautiful!

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  8. This is one of the best entries I've read so far. The story overall is touching and heartfelt.

    The things I liked most were:

    "she sometimes felt good that hair and nails don't sense pain." :( :(

    "Life always throws tough challenges at us
    The choice is always ours -
    Get soaked in stains or wipe the slate clean!" - Beautiful message!

    Good luck with the contest! :)

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  9. that's a great job.. Great Awareness post as well.. everything woven beautifully in the post.. I agree that life throws challenges at us and we have to make a good choice.. I loved it totally..

    Someone is Special

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  10. Thanks Corinne... i thought this would generate more visibility!

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  11. @Someone is Special: Thanks for the appreciation!
    @ Vaishali: Thanks for the lovely words.
    I was thinking about writing a semi fiction book on fibromyalgia and thanks to this contest and all your appreciation, i am motivated!

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  12. Well done!
    Best wishes for the contest!

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  13. Anuradha i am very sorry you have this affliction,i wish i could say something solid to mitigate your suffering.Who knows an invention tomorrow may cure you-like this stem cell therapy which has come up.May God bless you!

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  14. Hi Indu! Thank you for the comment. When lovely people like you are around to make us feel better, we are really lucky!

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  15. Hope your post speads awareness to many. Great work. All the best!!!

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  16. I didn't know about the condition till you wrote about it and well I read up Google. Thanks for the awareness. I liked this post, it's just well-written and touched me :)

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  17. Loved it ,beautifully narrated

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  18. Thanks for the awareness. This is the first time I am hearing about thsi disease. Well written...

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  19. बेहतरीन पोस्ट

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  20. Never heard it before. You are doing a good job in raising awareness. Nicely written.

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  21. awesome :) loved reading it :) i have also tried on it :) read it when you get time :) all the best!!

    http://saurabhchawla2345.blogspot.com/2012/08/i-had-dream.html

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  22. Hi Anuradha

    Your effort to spread awareness about this affliction is laudable. I checked Wiki to understand a bit more about it after reading your article.

    My only concern is using the article to promote Surf Excel too - to me it sounded a bit like trivialisation of the subject - or is it a case of Lalithaji taking up a social cause while promoting Surf.

    Your article is nicely written and I wish you the very best.

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  23. I read the story on everydaygyan...It touched me as this post did..

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  24. Hi Jayadevm! Thanks for your lovely comment! About surf excel, well I have written this article for a surf excel contest hoping that all the participants and judges will read it and thus the word about fibromyalgia will spread. See you read it and went to wiki for more info! There are 69 entries as of now. I am hoping they all will do their own little research and help me raise awareness. That was the idea! You got it the other way!

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  25. Hey thanks Lokesh! Wow, you read both the stories!

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  26. Thank you so much Sabyasachi and Saurabh!

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  27. Love to experiment, Shashiprakash, Vinishashah and Confused Soul - thank you so much for taking the time to read it and for your lovely comments!

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  28. Anu good post! All the best for the contest.

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  29. A beautiful post for an important cause. You have shown great spirit Anuradha in treating this condition not as an impediment but as a mission. Best of luck for both the contest and for your fight.

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