It's My Truth

It's my truth,

A chronic illness,

Neurological disorder.

A part of me,

Faced ev'ry day.

Was seizures,

Heavy migraines, too.

Evolved with surgery and stroke,

Faced ev'ry day,

Must accept me.

Still migraines,

Same uncertainties.

Not likely to find an end cure,

Must live as is,

Continue growth.

As I work to dig into my past, uncover my present and create a realistic future, I've realized that I've been living with a chronic illness since I was eleven, a neurological disorder. For many years it was labeled as epilepsy and I never thought of it as a chronic illness. As my life moves forward without seizures, so many other factors of my disorder is coming back to me. In my moments of moving around with a migraine and fatigue nobody knows about, I'm reminded of the same experience in my high school years. A neurological disorder is too mysterious and spontaneous to explain or predict. The various factors that affect my nerves are too much to keep track of, much less understand.

I'm feeling grateful for finding motivation to study different factors of my life. The books I’ve recently read have offered me new insight and assured me that I'm not completely alone even though I hardly speak or know of what I go through. My perspective on life has evolved again. I can now drop the fantasy that living without seizures will let me live freely. I am safer now and I still live with a neurological disorder. Shifts in thinking and my continuous search for growth will make my life enjoyable. Perspective is very valuable and the words that course through our minds hold power over our lives. Cleaning up what we think is never a desired task, but the treasures are worth discovering. Life is an adventurous journey! This reflection was inspired to me while reading Coping with Chronic Illness by H. Norman Wright and Lynn Ellis and Migraines by Dr. Elizabeth Leroux.