One of the hardest things for me to do when I became chronically ill was keep a ‘chin up’ attitude. I felt put upon all the time. It was grossly unfair for me to hurt so much, to lose so much, to feel so isolated, etc. It was at it’s worse whenever I got sick or the kids got sick, or something fell apart. It felt like I was already dealing with so much why did this thing have to happen too?

It took years. I had to cancel Facebook for six months. I had to hide away from mostly everyone in my life for a while. I had to adjust to the new normal so that hurting all day every day was the baseline, and one I could actually work from.

I did it. I am here. I can smile and feel pretty damn lucky about my life even though I have chronic illnesses.

There is only one nemesis out there that still wins in the battle over my cheerfulness. The common cold.

I hate the common cold. I become a whiny put-upon little bitch when I have cold. I don’t know if it’s because a low fever makes my already achy body screamingly achy or if it’s because colds seem to bring out the small child in all of us but I cannot keep a smile on my face when I am sick.

It feels like I am being kicked when I’m already down. It’s as though I have come to terms with feeling yucky all of the time so damn it world don’t make it worse! How much yucky can one person take?

I also struggle more when I’m sick because I can’t do the minimal things I normally do, so it feels like a backwards slide into the years of being able to do very little indeed. Of course then I risk flare ups when I feel better because I have that urge to ‘make up for’ the days I missed when I was sick.

So despite years of mentally preparing myself of a very different life from the one I imagined, I am basically a puppy when it comes to colds. Nature is a big bully who just took my chew toy, kicked me in the head, and is pointing and laughing while I whimper pathetically on the ground. Viruses are jerks.