Comments on: Building Blocks http://www.rheumatoidarthritisguy.com/2009/11/building-blocks/ Wed, 23 Sep 2015 03:19:35 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=4.3.1 By: Lana http://www.rheumatoidarthritisguy.com/2009/11/building-blocks/#comment-1880 Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:05:34 +0000 http://www.rheumatoidarthritisguy.com/?p=8466#comment-1880 “Which brings me to another one of my biggest lessons learned during the past year: when living with a chronic illness such as rheumatoid arthritis, the results of my efforts are not always seen as quickly as I would like them to be. I now know that with a little patience, I will soon enough realize that blocks that I have been putting together days after day have actually created sometime bigger and more beautiful than I could have previously ever imagined.”

This is beautiful. I have in recent weeks looked the the lemons that life has given me, and with it, I have made gallons of lemonade. Most people do not stop to look at the beauty and the goodness around them until they have to.

Even though we were forced to look at the beauty and the goodness out there, despite RA, chronic pain and the like – we are the lucky ones. Life, our goals, our dreams – it is all clearer and it is so beautiful and so good.

]]> By: Wren http://www.rheumatoidarthritisguy.com/2009/11/building-blocks/#comment-1877 Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:28:06 +0000 http://www.rheumatoidarthritisguy.com/?p=8466#comment-1877 I have a dear friend who is very ill. She lives very far away, so visiting her is impossible. But we speak frequently, and during the last several years she has slowly, slowly fought her way back to a modicum of health. She’s still bedbound, still ill, but still fighting.

Through all of this, as we’ve talked, she’s had times when she was so low. She was close to throwing in the towel, frustrated over her seeming inability to get better. So I acted the part of coach, encouraging her, pointing out her triumphs and steps forward, since she wasn’t able to see them herself, being in the middle of them. She’s come a very, very long way.

All of this is to say, RA Guy, that you have a real gift in that you’re able to see, upon reflection, your own progress — and take comfort and encouragement from it. Not everyone can do that, you know. While I’m good at cheerleading for my friend, I’m not always so good at seeing my own forward progress. Your words, however, help me to look at my own struggle with RA from a new angle.

Thank you for that. As I read your post today I thought, “he could turn these posts into a book for those who have RA and help so many people…”

Anyway. Thanks for the rallying thoughts and inspiration. And bravo for having such patience with yourself and the insight to take note of your own journey.

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