Too often I hear people complaining about the smallest things.
“The weekend was too short” – Woman at work.
“I hate this weather”- Guy at the grocery store.
“Things would be different if I won the Powerball”- Everyone in the United States.
What they don’t realize is how good they have it. They have water, food, shelter –all items that 3rd world countries miss every day. It doesn’t stop there. In their own country people have neighbors that are struggling to find the same basic amenities.
With chronic illness, the need to “complain” becomes overwhelming. We don’t have a need to complain about food, shelter, or a bad day at work. We feel a need to complain about immense pain, lack of sleep, doctor’s bills we can’t afford, and unpredictable flare ups.
Our life is an endless struggle of trying to be “normal” in a not so normal body.
But there is one thing that is different between someone who has a chronic illness, and a chronic illness warrior. We don’t just survive with our chronic illness; we fight every day to win. Winning against our illness becomes a way of life. We have our down days, but we are warriors for a reason. We become who we want to be, because we were not given a “normal” life.
But what is a “normal” life anyways? A life where we have the right to complain about not winning the lottery, or the weather?
There is a lesson to be learned for people with and without chronic illness:
To win in this game of life train your mind to be grateful for what you have.
Do not complain just for the sake of complaining.
Be authentic by staying positive.
Realize your bad days will pass by. On the other side of a rain storm the sun rises.
Take each day as a new beginning. Wake up not because you have to. Wake up because you want to.
Fight to live up to your inner potential.
What people don’t realize is that the secret to living with a chronic illness is not a secret after all. So many people who lived before us knew the secret all too well. We just have to accept it. We are lucky to be given an opportunity to live, so why take anything for granted?
Thanks,
Dave
Very well stated Mr. Gay. I love how you stated waking up to a new day because you want to. Its a gift to be able to wake up each day! And with positivity, mindfulness ,distraction tactics and medication, each day can be better than the ones we had. No it’s not easy living with severe pain of an invisible illness but it can also give us undeniable strength of a warrior that “normals” haven’t even begin to tap into. Wishing you lie pain days!
I found your post to be very insightful. I think it is a journey to become a chronic illness warrior. One doesn’t begin there because it takes a while to grieve what you have lost before you can build yourself anew. Then, you can find strength you never knew you had, compassion beyond what you had ever felt, and an insight into life that you wouldn’t want to trade.
Sometimes this feels like – yes this is the way forward and sometimes it just feels too hard.