Life Lesson: Be Kind to Yourself

Over the years, I have grown into the person who accepted my chronic illness. I honestly believe when we get sick or get a diagnosis that our bodies go through a period of grieving. Grieving over the old you before the sickness.

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I know this all too well because I started as a teenager. I’m a life learner of my medical condition, and I grieved my old life too. It didn’t happen just then, because I was young and didn’t take my Illness as serious. My grieving happened in my early 30s, a single mom, and grieving that I couldn’t be the mom my kids needed me to be. Pain was really consistent and a constant in my life before meds. When you are just starting, you do not know which direction to take this sickness on. As a mom, my illness was on the back burner, because I pushed myself daily just to show up to work, and other activities. There was no self care for myself, which forced me at 40 to quit my job. If you don’t pay attention to your health, your body will force you to rest.

The life changes that I started making was eating healthier. Making a journal of what I was eating, which helped pinpoint which foods I was most sensitive too! No dairy, and no red meat, less artificial sweeteners, more water, and my big change was the amount of sleep. I get a total of 8-9 hours of sleep per night. My health condition requires a lot of rest, since my body fights pain it’s constantly working. We might not see it, but that fatigue you feel…. That’s your body talking to you.

I have added a 45 minute HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) to my daily routine. I learned that my body needs 3 days of rest instead of the normal 2. I think of it as my body is super special because I get 3 days to rest. In reality, my body heals slowly than normal, and I need to wait patiently for my body to catch up. If I continue running my body into the ground, I’m setting myself up for future disappointment. Did I mention I was a life learner of this illness? This is something I struggled with for many years because I was in denial that I was different. I wanted to prove I was just as good as a healthy person. It was only when I started giving my body the food and the rest it needed… it worked just hard if not harder than a healthy person. I saw the results, which was a lesson learned that I must listen to my body.