How to Accept Limitations - Finding the Right Analogy
The date is July 21, 2006. It's the day I realized my gradual decline of function over three years into complete debilitation is from an incurable disease with no fix. I realized, thanks to the Internet, that I likely have the illness misnamed as "chronic fatigue syndrome." The prognosis described on multiple websites made me face a tremendous loss: I'll likely never go hiking or canoeing again in my life. I was only 40. While there were other day-to-day limitations and losses, those two were my great joys. As the grieving process began with tears rolling down, past words of wisdom came back to me. Some were words I had spoken to others; while others were words I had read or heard: "If you focus on what you can't do, then you will miss joys of what you still can do." "Everyone has limitations, some financial, others physical, others family situations. But life can still be full and fulfilling and joyful, despite those limitations." "None