RA AND THE FAMILY FIT

Rheumatoid Arthritis wears us out, it wears us down and it takes it toll but through it all we still try our best to be strong.  Strength for us is a form of Survival.  It helps us mentally to deal with our lives physically.  Yet there are those times when we feel like giving up but how do we stay strong in the throes of a disease that so often takes our “strength”, the very thing we need to keep us going. 

This disease is something that we hate with all that we have and to hate like this is very hard mentally but there is nothing about Rheumatoid Arthritis that we can find that has a positive outlook.  It is true that everything happens for a reason and this has happened to us for a reason but why we do not know so it takes a strength from deep within to cope both mentally and physically to deal with our lives as it has turned out to be.  The changing aspects that we face each and every day that many times breaks us down to our weakest point leaving us sad, depressed, confused, unhappy and at a loss as to how do we deal with a life filled with so much uncertainty.  But this is our disease and our fight to keep the strength we need to make it through just one day at a time.

Rheumatoid Arthritis is a daily disease one that is with us from the beginning of the day until the end of the day and sometimes it feels as if it’s more than that.  Coping with it is difficult because each day is a different day.  Our pain can be harsh or can be harsher but we’re always hoping for a day when we can say “today I feel alright”.  Not too often are we Blessed enough to have a painless day so we have to draw strength from deep within just to manage in the slightest way.  Feeling we can’t take the pain and fatigue and all of the effects of this disease anymore is a part of our lives but we still have to draw strength from our weaken bodies to just keep going. This in itself makes us Warriors with strength untold, Warriors that never give up.

No matter how strong we think we are or how hard we may fight, RA brings it on with a vengeance.  With it comes its forces, our usual pain, fatigue, brain fog, depression, sorrow and loneliness and we must not forget the almighty medication which has its own forces to add to the fight.  So where do we get strength to deal with all that we have to struggle through.  You see, as tough as it may be for us, no one can truly understand how difficult it is finding strength while many times we find ourselves pretending to be strong just to make it each and every day.  Dealing with pain and uncertainty daily weakens our minds which makes our fight even harder.

How do we explain to people who think we are weak and can do so much more than we are doing that this is how it is for us and we are doing what our bodies allows.  In our world, our weakness is not of our own doing, it from a body that is in control.  Fighting to go on through excruciating pain is not being weak, it is the epitome of strength.  We face ourselves in the mirror every day and wonder how are we going to make it but somehow if not always we manage to get things done.  Though many don’t see it or realize it, we are fighting through some of the hardest issues a person a face. We may want to give in to this disease but we know we cannot lay down because if we do, we may never be able to get up and do what must be done in a day’s life with Rheumatoid Arthritis.

One thing for sure, our strength comes from God which gives us the ability to go on in spite of what we are facing.  Yes we know that through all that we face, God is our one constant.  Our faith so many times is tested but we know it is all that we have when only we know exactly what it is we feel, when we know exactly what we go through, how we are treated, how we are left alone and how much we have to fight.  That is one of our biggest challenges, always having to fight.  Fighting just to feel normal, the very thing that so many people take for granted.

So as we live a life filled with challenges, we know that we will never give up no matter how hard things get for us or how tired our minds and bodies get.  We have and always will ask for the understanding that we deserve in this lifetime battle.

Be Blessed