Chronic illness will steal your life if you let it. It will take over your entire identity and become everything you think about. But, it doesn’t have to be that way. Chronic illness is only something you have to live with, it is NOT who you are. Don’t let chronic illness steal your life.
10 ways to keep chronic illness from stealing your life.
1 . Stop comparing yourself to others – Every journey is different, and we all face different challenges. Don’t look around and compare yourself to how others are doing, whether they are spoonies are healthy, remember that we are all making our own journey, and the comparison just isn’t there.
#Spoonie don't compare your journey to others, every journey is unique. Share on X
2 . Remember you are on this journey for a reason – you may not know what that reason is for a very long time, but you will one day know that you went through these trials for a reason. There is something you need to learn, some outcome that will come from these challenges that will leave you where you need to be, when you need to be there.
You are on this journey for a reason, seek to find your purpose. Share on X3 . Stop Resisting – the more you fight the longer the journey will take. It took me a long time to learn that when I feel the fatigue coming on that I just need to roll with it, and let it take its course. When I give in and stop resisting the flare moves on so much faster. As tired as I may be when a flare tries to take over, if I let myself just relax, I can pick back up the next day and continue on.
#Spoonie - don't fight the flares, it just makes them fight back Share on X4 . Choose Your Adventure – It may seem like chronic illness leaves us with no choices and no control over our life, but we still have some very important choices to make. The choices we make determine the course of our day and the course of our lives. If we choose to let stress and pain rule our lives, our lives will be nothing but stress and pain; however, if we choose to let peace rule, we can learn to relax into life, to Let Go, and just take life as it comes. When we say no to stress, and yes to peace, life is smoother.
Saying No to Stress, and Yes to Peace makes for a smoother life. Share on X5 . Realize you are Good Enough – We all struggle with this, with feeling that we’re not doing enough, not trying hard enough. But, I have to remember that I am good enough, and so are you. We are all doing the best we can with what we have available in that moment, and every moment is a new opportunity to try again, or try something different.
We are all doing the best we can with what we have available in that moment, and every moment is a new opportunity to try again, or try something different. Share on X6 . Know there is always something you can do – Don’t get disheartened when you aren’t marking enough things off your to do list. There is always something you can do, even if that something is simply rest. We need to rest and let our minds wonder so that they can return to what is important. It’s often when we aren’t focusing on things that the important thoughts find their way to the forefront. So, even when you feel you can do nothing, remember you are doing something.
#Spoonie even when you feel you can do nothing, remember resting is doing something. Share on X7 . Understand every day is a fresh start – What happened yesterday doesn’t matter today. It’s in the past. So what if you only made it 5 minutes on your walk yesterday. That means nothing today. Today is a new day and another chance to try. Do the best you can, and if you can’t do much know that you have another chance tomorrow.
Today is a new day and another chance to try. Share on X8 . Don’t make decisions based on what “might” happen – Too often Spoonies let the possibilities of how they “might” feel later determine what they do now. If you have the energy and the desire to do something today, then do it. Don’t let the worry of tomorrow be what stops you, or you’ll never do anything. If tomorrow comes and you can’t do something, deal with it then.
#Spoonie don't let the worry of how you might feel tomorrow stop you today. Share on X9 . Know you are stronger than you think you are – This is one lesson that comes up again and again in the Fibro Warrior interviews here, the one lesson we all end up learning, we are stronger than we ever thought we were. You may be ready to give up now, but if you keep digging and keep trying and don’t give up, you’ll find out you are much stronger than you ever imagined.
You are stronger than you think you are. Give yourself credit for all you've already overcome. Share on X10. Remember your track record – So far you have a great track record of keeping going. You’ve made it this long without giving up, you keep finding reasons to get up each day and try again. If you’ve done it this long you can certainly do it another day. Every day is a new chance, don’t mess up that great track record you have.
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Jag says
Agree with Keith… Excellent article Julie! 🙂
Julie says
Thank you 🙂
Keith Yeung says
Excellent post Julie! I like how although you wrote this specifically for people with chronic illness, a lot of the advice given here can actually be applied to people going through any sort of struggle, or even for those who are just going through a bad day. Thanks for sharing!
Julie says
Very true. Much of our struggles are just the struggles of life, chronic illness just amplifies many things.
Lee says
Julie, So many positive affirmations here 🙂 Thanks for joining in at Fibro Friday and being a positive role model in the spoonie community. Hope you have a great weekend and week ahead of you
Julie says
Thanks Lee!