THE WEIGHT WE CARRY (Fibromyalgia Awareness Month)
- Sally Somerton
- May 30
- 2 min read
Some days, it is not the pain that breaks us.
Not the aching muscles.
Not the burning nerves.
Not the exhaustion that settles deep within our bones.
Some days, it is the weight of carrying it all.
The thoughts that arrive uninvited,
whispering doubts in the quiet hours.
What if tomorrow is worse?
What if this never changes?
What if I can't keep doing this?
Anxiety rarely knocks politely.
It rushes in.
A racing heart.
A mind running marathons while the body begs for stillness.
A thousand possibilities,
and somehow every one of them feels frightening.
Then come the darker days.
The days when the world loses its colour.
When joy feels distant.
When even simple tasks seem impossibly heavy.
Depression does not always arrive as tears.
Sometimes it arrives as silence.
As numbness.
As staring through windows.
As cancelled plans.
As surviving rather than living.
And then there are the moments that steal our breath.
The panic.
Sudden.
Overwhelming.
Unrelenting.
A pounding chest.
Shaking hands.
A nervous system sounding alarms,
Even when no danger can be found.
The body screams.
The mind follows.
And all we can do is hold on and wait for the storm to pass.
Fibromyalgia knows these companions well.
Not because we are weak.
Not because we are failing.
But because carrying pain, fatigue, uncertainty and loss
Requires more courage than most people will ever see.
Yet here we are.
Still rising.
Still trying.
Still finding ways to laugh between the hard moments.
Still choosing hope when despair would be easier.
Still taking one more step,
one more breath,
one more day.
That is not weakness.
That is resilience.
So if today feels heavy,
If anxiety is loud,
If depression has dimmed the light,
If panic has left you exhausted.
Know this:
We are carrying more than most people realise.
And even on the days when all we do is survive..
That is enough.
More than enough.
That is brave.
Sally Somerton - Island Writer
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©sallysomerton2026
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