I have to admit that I have had my struggles dealing with what is happening to my body. I have went through the 'Whoa is Me', 'Why Me?' and 'It's not Fair!' phases these past couple of years. But that hasn't helped me any or changed the facts. I have had to realize that sometimes, Bad Things Happen to Good People.
I haven't done anything to deserve this, as I'm sure most people suffering chronic, debilitating diseases haven't done anything to deserve it either. It is what it is ... period. Now comes the fork in the road ... find a way to deal with it and make the most of everyday, or crawl under a rock and waste time feeling sorry for yourself. You only live this one life, so why waste it hiding from the world feeling sorry for yourself?
I make a choice everyday to laugh as much as possible. I try to find the joy in every day things, even if it's only getting one load of laundry done. To me, yes, that is now a joy and not a chore. Just being able to get up to do it gives me joy. To me that's a good day and gives me some sense of accomplishment. Although going to the grocery store requires a lot of planning and assistance I find joy in getting out and just going. Yeah, I'm exhausted when I get home and have to depend on my family to take care of a lot things I used to do for them, but find great joy that I have them here to love and support me. I find joy in the laughter of my children and my grandchild. I find joy in the love in my husband's eyes for me. I look for and find joy every chance I get.
Life is too short as it is and this disease may make it even shorter than I'd like ... so I don't want to waste a single minute!! Bad Things Happen to Good People every day ... but that doesn't have to define who you are!! I am not RA, I just happen to have RA. I take each day one at a time and cherish each and every one of them!! Each day I wake up is a good one and I make the conscience choice to make it the best one yet!!
So, if not for yourself, for your family and friends TRY to make every day a joy. Even if it's only a single moment out of your day, finding joy will make a huge difference in how you deal with what is going with you and your body. Learning to adapt and try new things in new ways is crucial. If you have RA, as I do, you know there is no going back. Things aren't going to be the way they used to be, but that's okay. It's a constant learning process and, yeah, I've had to buy little tools to help me with some every day things ... but that's okay.
I'm still me. That for sure is never going to change!! I may need to use my wheelchair for activities where a lot of walking is involved, but that's okay. I may need to use an electric toothbrush because my wrists and hands are too weak to brush my teeth, but that's okay. I might need help getting the lids off of everything, but that's okay. I may have to ask someone for help, but that's okay. Just because physically my body is changing doesn't mean I should allow my personality or my mind set to fall apart too!! Bad Things Happen to Good People, like me, but that's okay!! My life goes on, only in a different way than it used to be. I'm okay with that and look forward to each and every day I am alive and for the joy I can find!!!
