You Are Strong!

Having a condition like AS can often play tricks with our minds and fill us with self doubt.

For me, it was mostly the feeling that this condition has made me weak. I felt weak because my body was unable to do a lot of things that my pre-diagnosed body was able to. When in fact I am (as are all of us who live with AS) the total opposite.

Sometimes I like to think that only the strongest of us are given AS. It certainly isn’t a condition for the faint hearted. I think it is important to remind ourselves of this sometimes so here are are a few examples to show just how incredibly strong we are.

Hospitals

Many people are afraid of hospitals and go out of their way to avoid them. Unfortunately, those of us with chronic illnesses do not have that luxury in life. They are regular destinations for us, whether for check ups, tests, or treatment.

You have to visit a place that many find terrifying on a regular basis. You are strong!

Medicine

Needles are another very common phobia.

Many of us don’t have the option of avoiding them. Whether that is from injecting our treatments or having to get regular blood checks to make sure that they are working properly.

You face people’s worst fear weekly. You are strong!

Keeping up with others

Another tough part of having a chronic illness is having others in our lives without these challenges. It can often make us feel like we are different. Sometimes people don’t understand what we are going through and they certainly don’t face the obstacles we face. Yet we still have to find a way to keep up with the rest of society and get these things done despite the fact that they are so much harder for us to do.

You are playing the game of life on hard mode, yet you still keep winning. You are strong!

A condition with no cure

The idea of having a condition that lasts forever is something I had trouble coming to terms with. Before my diagnosis, every time I visited a doctor with an issue, I was given some medication to take for a short amount of time and it would clear up. This is obviously not the case with AS which is nothing short of terrifying but we have no choice but to accept it and keep it moving.

You were told you have an illness that will never go away but you still wake up to fight it every day. You are strong!

COVID complaints

Those of my friends who have been unlucky enough to contract the virus have all told me about the terrible the fatigue it caused them and how they were unable to function.

In fact, it is probably the symptom that I have heard the most noise about. But what was a symptom for a week or so for them is a constant part of our lives.

You deal with people’s toughest COVID symptom often and still keep pushing. You are strong!

Conclusion

These are just a few examples of how strong we AS warriors are, but there are so many more. Give yourselves the credit you so richly deserve – you have had to put up with so much, yet had the strength to keep going despite it all.

Sure, you might not be able to squat as much in the gym as some of your friends, but I assure you they would have a much harder time jumping the hurdles that our conditions have thrown at us.

True strength isn’t measured by how much you lift at the gym or what you might not be able to do on account of your condition. It is shown by everything you have been through yet did not give up and the fact that you are still sitting here today.

So let me remind you just one more time - YOU ARE SO (unfortunately I can’t swear here) STRONG!