Hello

This life is hard.  Every day is filled with uncertainty.  How you greet each day is totally up to you.  I choose to greet each day a new.  Yesterday has come and gone.  Tomorrow is yet to be.  Today is what matters.  What are you going to do to make today a good day?  How are you going to spread love and kindness?  We need more of that in this ever changing world.

I have come to feel passionately that happiness is a choice.  It is through many trials and tribulations that I have come to feel this way.  I do not always choose happiness.  I have had some bad days.  The good days, they always outweigh the bad ones. 

I thought I was going through enough with my ongoing infertility journey.  (More on that struggle to come later.)  Dealing with infertility has been a huge emotional struggle that I have been enduring for close to 7 years now.  Little did I know I was meant to go through more.  The test of my strength and courage was not over.  I am one of the 1% of the population who suffer with an autoimmune condition known as rheumatoid arthritis.  My diagnosis was made in June 2015.  I was very fortunate that my diagnosis was made early and that I did not have to suffer being misdiagnosed or undiagnosed as so many others have.  When I was diagnosed, I told myself that I would learn as much as I could about this disease and how it affects me.  I told myself that I would not be defined by my illness, but I would embrace it and not hide from it.  I would not be ashamed of it.  I would not let it consume me.  It is part of me, it is part of who I am. 

Through the ever changing journey to manage my disease, I have become moved by one word: Courage. 

The Merriam-Webster dictionary states that courage means the mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty.  It’s a powerful word with a huge impact.  It all started when I was listening to a song by and Australian female rock singer/guitarist Orianthi.  Part of the lyrics of her song Courage is as follows:

Courage is when you’re in pain

But you keep on living anyway

 

I was moved by this song, especially this verse.  It is the foundation of my life.  Through all I have been through, and all that I am still to face, I choose to be happy and to keep finding courage.  Some days it might just be the courage to get out of bed, others it might be to try something new, or to reach out and show someone love or kindness.  It takes courage to live this life.  I want to share my story, my ups and downs, my feelings, my heart, and my knowledge from my journey with rheumatoid arthritis.  It’s not an easy road to find myself on, but it’s my road.