One way my autoimmune illness has changed my perspective on life is that I don’t need to be afraid to be myself. For so long, I conformed to what everyone else wanted of me. If I was supposed to be one way, then I acted this way, or if I was supposed to like something when I didn’t, I was supposed to say I did just to be accepted. For too long, I was someone I wasn’t. I was someone who let other people walk over me and control me, but in an empowering way, my autoimmune illness gave me the capacity to be myself and to stand up for myself again.
Not only in doctors’ offices when they shrugged my symptoms off as being “anxiety,” but also when individuals were being mean to me. I think I was hoping someone else would stand up for me for too long, but that person never came. I realized I had to be this person for myself. Now, I also stand up for my family members when doctors or others want to say something that is not right or insulting. The days of being passive are gone, as they never served me well.
As Christians, we are not called to be chameleons or to be rugs for people to walk over. God created us uniquely and He has a special purpose for each of our lives (Psalm 139:14; Jeremiah 29:11). We never need to be someone we are not to appease others, nor do we need to let others walk over us. It is a sad reality that it took a diagnosis of an autoimmune illness before it got me to change this perspective on my life. Nonetheless, I’m thankful this change has occurred, as it has helped me tremendously in life.
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Delmaine Donson