As a fellow human who lives everyday with a chronic illness, I understand just how much a chronic illness can seep into every part of your life affecting not only your health but your educational aspirations, your work/career aspirations, your relationships with spouse, partner, family friends, your hobbies, activities, your social life. I get it, it is hard as H#$$!
In many ways will force you to re-invent who you are, you may have had to change career goals, change jobs, reduce work form full time to part time, transition from more physical work to more sedentary work, perhaps even had to alter your living situation, and for sure alter the way you used to spend your available energy and free time.
However, one big lesson I have learned, is to be certain you find those parts of you who you truly are in your heart and your spirit, and do what you can to maintain those parts of you in whatever way you can. At times in my life this has required me to be extremely creative, like when I walked the Appalachian trial virtually, slowly at home, over 2.5 years to completion versus my dream of hiking the real thing. Or how I had a friend build me a raised garden bed so I can pursue my passion of being outdoors and enjoying gardening in a way my body can maintain. I also had to accept that I could no longer breed, foster, and rescue animals the way I loved to when I had more health, I have taken my passion for animals and found a way to still help and serve them daily through my part-time business ventures as a pet nutritionist.
There are many things I would have loved to do, that I will likely never have a chance to do in this lifetime due to my health, however, through the years of walking this chronic illness path, I have reached in deep to find the things that feel the most ‘me’ and fought to find ways to water and nurture those things within myself, and that has truly made all the difference for me!
I hope my words can help you as well.
#chronicillness #chronicillnessawareness #chronicillnesswarrior #mito #mitochondrialdisease #viralspinalmeningitis
