SUCCESSFULLY LIVING WITH CHRONIC ILLNESS MEANS YOU WILL HAVE TO REINVENT YOUR LIFE!
After years of continuous struggle physically and mentally, causing myself so much increased physical symptoms and sufferings however, I learned that when chronic illness strikes our lives, the very best thing we can do is to ADAPT, and be willing to re-invent ourselves.
I wish I could have bottled up the wisdom I have now and delivered it to myself 15 years ago, though life will this illness would still have been tough and painful, the path would have been far easier if I had been willing to let go of things without such a fight, and been willing to pivot on my pre-planned path and follow different roads in life.
I re-invented my career… going fro
m a full time dental hygienist, to working part time from home after re-training myself to become a pet nutritionist.
I re-invented my social life from going out with friends for dinners, happy hours, shopping, dancing, movies etc… to being content with having one or two people over to my house or theirs for a nice home-mad dinner, or board games, movie nights.
I re-invented by fitness life going from being a cross-fitter, weight-lifter, biker, roller bladder, hiker, to being content with a light 15 min. stretching session each day, with 3x weekly targeted physical therapy sessions, and a few short walks each day.
I re-invested my diet - I had to forgo all fast-food, all restaurant food, all prok, chicken, soy, daily, gluten, peanuts, and grains and learn how to prepare a very clean paleo type low sugar diet and find contentment and joy in doing the right thing for my body.
I had to reinvent how I spent my free time, no longer do I partake in much travel, or outdoor sports the way I did in the past, I now have had to develop new activities to enjoy which require far less energy like writing these posts, blogging, writing my memoir, crocheting, painting, writing pen-pals, watching movies, and enjoying the company of my pets.
I have had to re-invent how I live my life, and I have lost a lot due to my illness, but I meditate daily on the wisdom of focusing on all the things I can do versus the things that I can’t do, and I adapt!