Healing from a Chronic Illness is hard! There- I said it! It’s 5 steps forward, 9 steps back some days! It’s waking up achey or feeling off and wondering why. It’s so many things depending on the day! Having Chronic Lyme isn’t easy! I was diagnosed 4 years ago but i’m pretty sure i’ve had it for decades given the ups and downs of my symptoms. The journey of healing started when I was diagnosed and having that diagnosis helped because once I knew what it was- I figured I could start working on healing all the symptoms. But what I have found in my healing journey, is that it’s not a one and done approach. It’s a multi layered approach- like an onion approach to healing! You peel one layer and you have another to go through and then another and another. One of the things that has helped me is choosing to have hope that I would heal.
I would love to tell you that this in itself was life changing- but it’s not. Because even with hope, there have been hard days, weeks and months. I’ve made progress and i’ve had setbacks. I’ve learned a lot about my body in the process and healing. I’ve learned so much but to name a few things- I’ve learned that healing is not just physical but also emotional. The emotional areas in our life need to be healed in order for our body to heal at times. Rest is important. Listening to our bodies is important. Nutrition is important. Giving ourselves grace is important. Realizing that there is no timeline for healing - is important. Just a few things i’ve learned. Still learning, still healing, still growing.
I guess my message is, hang on ! Things won’t always feel hard! You won't always feel this way! Hope is a good thing! Like my fave quote in Shawshank says “ Hope is a really good thing, maybe the best of things and no good thing ever dies” So as you heal, choose hope! Hope for a better tomorrow! Hope that your body has the capacity to bounce back! Hope that your journey will not be for nothing! It will give others hope too along the way!
Here’s to healing! Here’s to hope!
Mannie <3
