Learning and growing with RA©

"Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Hello My friends!
I hope this writing finds you well.

Phew, what a lesson RA is in many things:

I have learned that even when you feel like
you will never have a good day again...
With patience and pacing myself...
Oh and my 6th medicine...
I have hope.

I have learned that not everyone supports you:
Especially when you are chronically ill.
This was mind-blowing for someone like me
who trusts everyone....
Many many people walked away from me when I was
really really ill...
The blessing in my life was the ones that stayed beside me.
That was a great blessing.  The love, unconditional love.

I learned and have grown by pacing myself...
something I NEVER knew how to do.
Now I can share my experiences with you...
We can learn together....knowing this is why RA was delivered in my life.
To slow me down and to help others find balance too.
Not only that, but to find joy in my "new normal" life.

Learning to not give up hope some days was difficult!
However, my fellow RA friends and my loved ones picked me up
and carried me...and thank God for my faith.
Living with chronic pain is so impossible to explain to anyone ~
The chronic fatigue and pain is absolutely devastating
Making it difficult, if not impossible to make plans.
Adjusting to this new life, that has been a learning experience.

But, my friends...I am planting seeds, my roots are growing...
I am getting stronger!
At least I am learning to accept and live with my disabilities,
and ... to live within my boundries.
Trust me, this is growth.
I am looking forward to seeing what the rest of my life has
to offer...and what I have to offer the rest of my life.

Healing Hugs,

Alicia

You can't win a Battle without support troops!©

"If all my friends were to jump off a bridge, I wouldn't follow.  I'd be at the bottom to catch them when they fall." Author Unknown

Hello my friends ~ how are you today?

Life gives us all struggles
battles we must fight
we can only pray that when our
battle comes ~
The comrades we have built up
over our lives ...
will stand beside us and fight
and battle with us...
Battling RA ~ we have a lifelong fight ~

With our family and friends beside us...
we can win the battle.
Without our comrades, we don't stand much
of a chance.
Like a war ~ when you lose your mates ~
your support thins out...
your strength wanes...
you are vulnerable to your aggressor.

Our aggressor wants us wounded...
unable to function ~
WEAK.
RA would love to take my ability to walk away...
I am fighting that every second...
but I am losing my strength...
I have already fought the battles 
for my hands, my shoulders, my energy...
my career.

Nevermind...losing my best friend and support ~
my mom...

At the end of your War, I'll be next to you...
Are you willing to fight with me?
I need comrades willing to carry RPG's, Machine guns,
and just some canteens of water once in a while...
and go for walks to keep the bad guys away.

You see RA doesn't like you healthy,
so let's do what we can to battle that...
Chair yoga, walking, visiting, painting...
It loves to take away your social life...
and healthy things you love to do.

Too many Warriors don't know how
to handle
sick warriors ~
so they stay away.

Don't.
The battles are hard enough.
Alone.

I will be a warrior for your War.
Won't you be there for mine?

Healing hugs,
Alicia

For all of my friends with invisible illnesses that feel alone because they are left alone ~ abandoned, their diseases and pain diminished.   I hope I can be a voice for all of us...if there is anything I can do, it is write, for all of us, from my heart.  Build your group of Warriors, my friends!