The logical key

Once you are diagnosed with a chronic illness, it takes a moment to melt and to realize that the rest of life will not be as before. But even if you understand the meaning logically, you don’t want to fully accept it in practice. You try to live as you always have done, and when you find that it doesn't work, the frustration hits hard. At least, that was what happened to me, and still does from time to time.

I don’t know how many times I have become unnecessarily angry and sad because I couldn't manage something simple, something I always easily did before, or become unreasonably exhausted by a simple activity. The energy that goes into these negative feelings could be used to something much better you might think, and that's exactly what I finally realized.

To fully accept one’s illness, or as in my case several, is probably the most important process for giving yourself the chance to be as functional as possible. Learning about how the symptoms affect you short and long term, and then knowing your limitations and being okay with them is actually liberating. If you have only come to that insight and have been able to release the frustration and feeling of injustice, you get the energy to try to improve your odds through training and such instead.

I'm likely to occasionally fall back into self-pity, but I'll probably be able to shake it off right away. Instead of being mad because I’m unable to do a certain thing, it’s better, and above all, smarter to put the energy on figuring out a new and more efficient way to do things with my restrictions in mind. It may take longer, but the time factor is one of the first things you have to get used to because almost everything takes longer when you have a chronic illness that is related to pain and/or lack of mobility.

Negative thoughts and feelings are something that takes a lot of energy while positive thoughts give energy. If you just remember that, life will be much easier.

xoxo