Debbie reports shifts in several values: "I am now happy, and I don't even think I knew what it was to be happy before...

I've come to believe that what's most important is the quality of relationships--honesty, truthfulness, communication. I say exactly what I feel and what I want. Some people think I'm selfish, but I'm just being honest."

And Gini reveals a deeper reverence for life: "I've learned to cherish life a lot more than I did before, with a lot less taking for granted. Icherish my husband more too, our intimacy and our everyday life."

After recovery people often report a new calmness, greater feeling of inner strength, or new confidence in inner resources. Perhaps these changes come from having plumbed the depths of despair and made the journey back to balance. Linda offers her observation:

"If you survive something like Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and don't commit suicide, you have a greater inner strength than you ever had. It was like a trial by fire. That's what I experienced.

"For me, that inner strength came from seeing that life goes on and I didn't need to do a whole lot to survive. Now that I have the energy to do anything I want, I don't have to do all the mundane things that I thought I had to do."

Some who would never have considered meditation discover how nourishing and healing it can be to simply become quiet and look within. This theme is voiced by Bernice, who states: "I'm realizing that the purpose of this disease is for me to go within, learn a lot more about myself, and make some incredible changes in order to survive emotionally. I realize that I came from a very dysfunctional background, that there is a lot of learned fear and guilt that seem to be blocking the natural healing energy within me.

"The lesson boils down to my drowning in self-doubt, self-hatred and guilt all my life. The illness has forced me to realize those are the very things that are preventing me from getting well. The healing energy's there—I mean, if I cut my finger it heals. It's there, but I was blocking it."

Times of adversity inevitably bring people more in touch with the spiritual dimensions of life. One result can be a change in the frequency or quality of prayer. This is supported by Gini, who tells us, "I would say overall my spirituality is more alive. We pray on a daily basis. I get the feeling that I can cope with whatever comes, like there is somebody there who is stronger than I am."

It may also mean a wholesale reappraisal of one's spiritual values and belief system. This was the case for Gail, who says: "I had to really look at my religious side and what I believed in. I found that it didn't work for me any more. And so I started searching for other things of a spiritual nature. I found that meditation did work for me, going inside to find answers, relaxing, quieting my mind, to find my higher self."

Or it may be of a simpler impact, as described by Debbie: "I am healing myself by getting in touch with my true spirit." In all of these cases,the patients agreed that the illness brought them to a greater recognition of the place of spirituality in their lives.

What can be concluded from these patients' experiences? They serve to remind us not only that there is hope for recovery, but also that the saying "broken bones heal stronger" applies in a way to CFS as well.