In a healthy body, societal norms give us pretty good guide-posts on when in life we can anticipate needing to transition from full-time work to part-time or retirement, when we can reasonably expect our bodies to keep up with certain physical activities like team sports, running, biking, weight-lifting
… however, when you are a young person saddled with chronic illness, these lines are VERY blurred, and it often an incredible challenge for us to know when it the right time to keep fighting to accomplish a certain life goal, or fighting to maintain full-time employment, or fighting to keep up with a certain type of activity or exercise we love… and when it is the right time to surrender. Personally, this has been one of the most tremendous challenges as my condition has a natural down-ward progression and it has seemed impossible at times to figure out when I should keep pushing to hold on, and when the pushing is actually only making my condition worsen, and it is actually the right time to let go of that thing I once had, and surrender that piece to the illness. It is ironic that no one typically ever says to their 80+ year old grand-parent, “oh you just have to keep fighting for it” trying to motivate them to keep working at the bank 5 days per week, or riding their bike for 3 miles per day… no we usually help persuade older family and friends to just slow down, and let themselves rest more… yet when it comes to younger people facing chronic illness we get the constant societal message of P.U.S.H… push, push… fight… fight… fight.
In my now 16 year battle, I still struggle to decipher between the two, but I am learning more and more each day, when i should push and what I should fight for, and what to wave the white flag at, and surrender to, even if it is only for that hour, or that day.
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