Crohns runs in her family and I know it tears her up that I have had to deal with the blessing and curse of having it. For some back story, I had just purchased a house and within a week of purchasing, my fiance got a call to go work for his dream job. That dream job happens to be in a different state than the one we had just purchased our partially remodeled home in. Don't worry I will be posting some entertaining bits about that too, but for now I share this.
I am thankful…..
With all the
craziness and stress of the house, the move and the job, I created a thankful
board. It’s a white board and at the end of each day I write a few things I am
thankful for on sticky notes and put them on the board. It helps me remember
all the great things in life in the midst of the insanity. On my first bike
ride in weeks, I was about 13 miles in when I realized something, I am thankful that I have crohns.
Please do
not ever blame yourself or feel bad that I have been blessed with having crohns; and no that is not a sarcastic statement. Now let me explain.
I am an
amazing athlete. I might not be in the Olympics or winning crazy medals, but I
am an amazing athlete because I have to be. Working out keeps my stress levels
low and purges the body of toxins. The crohns forces me to keep active or my
stress levels get too high and I get sick. It keeps me in check and keeps me
moving forward. It keeps me motivated without hindering my performance. There
are very very few diseases out there that allow that to happen.
I don’t have
to deal with peer pressure to eat junk food or drink. We all always want to eat
the cake, donuts, treats, beer, what have you and I simply cannot. I don’t have
to deal with the “oh she is one of those girls who won’t have treats because
she doesn't want to get fat”. I have a solid excuse and no one gives me any crap
about it. My body gave me a get out of jail free card to eat the way everyone
should eat. I eat clean. I stay healthy. Just because other people can digest
fast food doesn't mean they should. Chicken nuggets are delicious and can be
hard to resist. My body has a built in resistance. Thankfully I do have cheats
that I can still enjoy. Gluten free pizza and cookies are available, but not
quite as accessible as everything else so then they get to truly be a treat.
Crohns has
made me so much more compassionate to those who are suffering and fighting
their own battles. Every single person in this world is fighting some battle,
cancer, depression, obesity, the list goes on. The crohns has given me a small
window into some of these battles without destroying my spirit.
Crohns can
be an awful and debilitating disease, but only if I let it be. It has taught
me the delicate balance of life that must exist to be healthy. The balance of
stress, sleep, food, exercise and relaxation is really important and my body
has an internal measure to let me know when one of those is out of whack. Who
wouldn't want something like that?
You gave me
the genes to be an athlete. You taught me the self-control to only take
what I need. You taught me to treat others the way I wanted to be treated and
to be compassionate. You taught me to rise above every obstacle life throws at
me and find the best in it. Don’t ever feel sad or guilty that I have crohns, feel
thankful for all the amazing things you have taught me. Feel thankful that I
have a disease that pushes me to be a better person without holding me back in
anyway. Thank God for giving me crohns so that I could learn all that I have
from having it and then learn to rise above it.
Yesterday
was the first time I was honestly thankful for having the experience of having
crohns and I needed you to know too.
