When you live with a chronic illness, it’s an unescapable aspect you are faced with almost every minute of your day. While you can always make the most of it and find your own bliss, you are inevitably going to be restricted in some ways.
When you tell others about your health concerns, you will inevitably be met with the idea that it’s just awful and as if you are some kind of miracle for finding a way to cope.
For many of us that deal with invisible illnesses (the auto-immunes especially), people often remark “But you don’t look sick.” Or we force ourselves to overcompensate that we do actually appear to be highly functioning.
Someone very special to me recently remarked “You have to take care of yourself, because no one else will.”
Having always told myself I would not allow my illness to define me, or hold me back from anything, I realized in my zealousness, I was causing detriment to myself, my health, and productivity.
While may of us may have a few more obstacles than the average person, but that’s not to say there aren’t lessons to be learned.
When you’re dealing with a chronic problem, it teaches you about all sorts of things – not just health, but messages you can carry through to the rest of your life.
Patience Really Is A Virtue
If you’re not feeling so great one day, then you have to put your plans on hold until you feel better.
What that means is when you do feel well enough to do an activity you have been anticipating, it feels all the better for it. You have a level of appreciation that most don’t, and it makes the good moments all the sweeter.
You’re A Researching Goddess
If someone is suddenly diagnosed with an illness later in life, then they have to learn survival skills. It’s not quite akin to teaching an old dog new tricks, but it is more difficult than someone who has been managing their health for years.
That means rather than floundering around for answers, you know where to go when problems arise.
Whether KyaniTeamGenesis.com.au for supplement benefits; disability forums based on location like Disabilities-R-Us or when you need a bit of cheering up; CarersAustralia.com.au provide a wealth of knowledge and where to find the funniest pet videos on YouTube.com.
Okay, the latter isn’t going to help with your health, but you’re still very glad you know it exists!
Limitations Are Power
We’re constantly being told to bust free of our limitations and do whatever we want. But you know what? That’s actually pretty terrible life advice.
With a chronic illness, you know your limitations – and there’s a power in that. You don’t push the boundaries because you know from experience that those boundaries are there for a reason.
If you go too far, you know those boundaries are going to push right back. So you learn to work with what you have got, and just roll your eyes are motivational prompts that don’t make any sense in the real world.
I was recently hospitalized due to my SLE, and what is scariest is not knowing what was happening, how bad things were, and how and if I would recover fully.
I don’t talk about my illness often here, but when I have, some of you reach out privately with encouragement and relatable stories.
Thank you for reading xo
