I can feel the “real me.”
The one that isn’t sick from medication side effects.
The one that is well, energetic, and positive.
The one that laughs easily and offers help to friends without hesitation.
The “me” I know I am, deep inside.
The “me” that follows my heart, doing what feels right rather than weighing costs and benefits…
I feel optimistic when these moments come!
Sometimes I even find myself believing that the chronic pain won’t return…
It’d be a different world, a different life for me without this pain and nausea.
I know my chronic pain will not just miraculously disappear.
I won’t waste time with that fantasy!
But moments of hope are very important.
Moments like these give me the strength to keep working with my doctor, trying new meds, following new treatment plans.
There is a difference between hope and fantasy.
For me, fantasy is wasted energy.
Hope is the path back to the “real me.”
