The Struggles of Living with Chronic Illness

Okay, so let me first preface this by saying that I do not think illness should be an excuse to make excuses for not getting things done, but so many times, I hear people make the following assumptions:

• "Is she really as sick and in pain as she says she is?”
• "She seems fine to me!”
• "She was just working hard yesterday, why is she not here today?”

Moreover, my absolute most favorite:

• "She is so unreliable and lazy!”

If I had a dollar for every time someone said those statements to me, I would for sure quit my stay at home job and live on the islands in a heart beat. That is how rich I would be and let me say, it really does hurt me—a whole heck of a lot. As someone with chronic illness, I will let you know that I am a hard worker. My body just is not as capable of lasting as long as yours is which is okay. It has taught me balance between hard work and taking care of myself by doing self-care and focusing on my overall health. I work just like everyone, just a little bit differently than others that have physical jobs. I work from home and have a homemade jewelry and scarves business. I literally make myself work, but on some days I cannot even get out of bed and that is quite all right. Why, because I try my absolute best in all that I do. I learned that pacing myself is better than running this race life like track runner who overestimates themselves and gets tired before the end of their finish line.

It hasn’t always been this easy, though, and I still struggle with myself feeling like I could still be doing more and pushing myself to my ultimate maximum, but those are thoughts that I need to toss out. Some days I feel like I am just being lazy, other days I get angry with myself for not being able to work hard enough because I am too tired for words (orwork) and in too much pain to even get up out of bed and get dressed. Some days I resent the fact that life hit me this hard and chose to knock me down so hard that it is taking me this long to get back up.

Through it all, though, it has taught me to love myself even in those moments. To give myself grace, even when others around me will not. Because in the end, if I do not love myself, who will? I have to be the one that chooses to get up every morning to motivate myself to keep going and to push myself to do the best that I can. Even in those moments when I do not feel the greatest, I have to keep moving in this marathon of life.

So when you see that man or woman in your life who has a chronic illness and does not seem to work as hard as you think they should, go encourage them. Go help them with their day-to-day activities and give them tons of grace. I can promise you that they need it. Grace them with beautiful words of kindness laced with tons of love. Make them feel wanted, appreciated and that they will get through this season of life. They need it just as much as you do.

Flaws and all, you will be okay. You will find your balance. That is all that matters.

Until next time, enjoy this adventure!