The label - Im Chroniclly Ill

Blog Series - Beyond the labels. Who Am I

Yesterday, I was written off.

Today, I lived.

If you only looked at the label chronically ill, in pain, recovering you’d think my story was predictable. Rest. Crash. Repeat.

For a long time, I thought that too.

But today reminded me of something important: I am not just my hard days.

I took a beautiful lady to the beach.

Coffee in hand, salt air in my lungs, letting the ocean work its quiet magic.

I walked. I got in the pool. I ended the day with a spa.

I came home to a salad and a cold cider simple, soul-filling joy.

Not because I pushed myself.

Not because I was trying to “act normal.”

But because my body actually had the capacity today and I listened.

I’m not at 100%, and I’m not pretending I am.

But here’s the part that matters:

✨ My recovery days are shorter than they used to be.

✨ I don’t crash for a week after a big day anymore.

✨ Healing isn’t theoretical — it’s quietly happening.

And still I won’t rush it.

I won’t let the “strong one” label pressure me into overdoing it.

I won’t let the “chronically ill” label convince me that joy is off-limits.

I won’t let the “warrior” label push me to fight when my body needs rest.

This is what Beyond the Labels really means in real life:

I can be someone who needs rest and someone who experiences joy.

I can have a chronic condition and have days where I feel alive.

I can honour my limits without shrinking my life.

My labels trauma survivor, chronically ill, strong one tell only part of the story.

They explain my past, but they don’t define my capacity for joy.

Yesterday I needed rest.

Today I got to live.

Both versions are me.

And both deserve compassion.

The old version of me would have pushed, overdone it, and paid for it later.

But I’m learning to live differently to let my body lead instead of drag it behind me. Healing isn’t just the body improving… it’s the relationship with the body improving.

I’m proud of myself not for being productive, not for “functioning,” not for pretending I’m fine but for building a life that doesn’t require me to abandon myself to enjoy it.

This is what healing beyond the wound, beyond survival, beyond the labels looks like:

🌿 Rest without guilt

🌿 Joy without punishment

🌿 Progress without pressure

So here’s to slow victories. Here’s to bodies learning safety again. Here’s to no longer needing to fit a label sick, strong, broken, brave to justify who we are.