A few years ago, I gained weight from a medication that I had to take for my mental illness. I took it for about nine months, thinking that my body would get I used to it and that I would stop gaining weight. I didn’t stop gaining weight, however, for the entire nine months of taking that medication. By the time I had finally discontinued it, I had gained seventy pounds. I felt awful about myself, and knew that I needed to make some change. I slowly started to lose the weight, and I eventually got down to a healthy size once again. During my weight loss, I hid myself. I wasn’t content with my body. The thing is, even after I lost the weight, I still wasn’t quite content with it. I had a considerable amount of stretch marks. Even to this day, the stretch marks are faded, but still there. What I learned from all this was that even if I wasn’t healthy or content, it didn’t mean that I still couldn’t be happy. I didn’t mean that I still couldn’t try to get healthier while doing so, either. I'm definitely healthier than I was, and I don't ever want to go back. I'm currently taking a fitness class twice a week along with clean eating everyday and it is helping my health and confidence.
I’ve also seen that I could apply my struggle to chronic illness as well. If someone says that they have chronic pain, but are having a good day, others around them are in disbelief.
“Are you sure?”
“You don’t look like you’re in pain.”
“I think you’re fine.”
You see, it’s completely alright to feel okay while having a chronic condition. It’s alright to have happy days on the path to healing. In fact, it’s great! It’s something that should be celebrated. It’s all a matter of taking things one step at a time. Let no one invalidate your happiness and success.
“Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow.” — Albert Einstein
No comments:
Post a Comment