What Was Meant To Destroy Me

A year ago, I was afraid to talk about my condition. I thought “staying strong” meant keeping my struggles to myself, and feared that any mention of it would be seen as complaining and attention-seeking. I’ve always been the quiet type, introverted to the extreme.

Then in June, I had my first Adrenal Crisis. I nearly died, and my family was confused. What was that? Why did it happen? It occurred to me that I needed to talk about it. I owed to them, and I owed it to myself. No one would ever understand if I didn’t speak up and let them know. So I broke my silence then and explained the incident. I went on to talk more about my condition. It was a very slow process for me. I started small, sharing articles or relatable memes about chronic illness. As I got more vocal, some people unfriended me, some family members unfollowed me. They don’t understand, but that is the whole reason I’m doing this.

I started a blog with the intention of finding my voice, and with the hope that by doing so, I could help others find theirs. There are so many suffering in silence. Strength is not synonymous with positivity. We are strong when we chose to speak about our experiences and share our reality. We are strong just by chosing to get up and live our lives, however mundane that may be. We don’t owe anything to anybody, and we have nothing to be ashamed of.

Today I was published by a website created by/for the disabled community called The Mighty. The Mighty has 80 Million readers. 80 Million!! 

I have no idea what I’m doing or where this mission will take me, but it’s my greatest hope that it will empower others as well. This is who I’m meant to be, and I want everyone else to embrace exactly who they are as well.

Much love,

💕Michelle

http://themighty.com/2016/01/when-doctors-get-excited-about-how-rare-i-am/