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We need to start talking seriously about invisible illnesses and what really happens.

Just imagine your mind and body suddenly stops. You can’t move, you can’t think, you don’t eat or drink for 7 weeks and you are now trapped in isolation, in darkness and in silence. Well that’s what happened to me, one day, everything stopped, and no one can tell me why. My mind shut down and left my body helpless and lifeless for 7 weeks. This is the truth behind an invisible illness.

We need to remember, it’s not our fault our bodies are sick, and this can happen to anyone. It happened to me. It happened to us. We need to forgive ourselves, to heal and rebuild ourselves. I have never blamed myself for being sick because I will always be thankful, I am the one who fell sick, I am the lucky one.

We didn’t choose this life, but it’s the only life we have without a cure, we need to believe our health will get better and our tolerance may improve. We need to let go, only then are we able to let go of the person we once were and accept the person we are today.

I was given a choice, the severity of my illness now meant I had a choice and I choose to live selectively!

Key takeaways

• A resilient mindset is a flexible mindset and we need to learn and accept it is ok to rely on others, learning when to step back and rest and when it’s ok to step forward, slowly and patiently
• Sharing our journey, our experience and our emotion can support others to navigate through their difficult times seeking professional advice
• We learn a lot about ourselves when we find ourselves in difficult situations, positively impacting our self-worth and personal growth. For some it deepens their spirituality and for others this heightens their appreciation for life
• We need to try and visualise a hopeful and positive outlook and stop focussing on negativity and remember we didn’t do anything to cause this illness and we need to remember that; it’s not our fault
• We need to take care of ourselves and stop feeling guilty, we need to focus on our own needs and feelings and invest time and effort into things that bring us all joy and relaxation
• Believing, our health will get better, our tolerance and severity may improve.
• We need to accept we didn’t choose this life, but it’s the only life we have without a cure and we must learn to appreciate it
• Our resilience is tested every day and we must believe we will slowly get stronger and we can no longer bounce back
• We need to acquire new skills to improve our cognitive thinking and set goals to slowly implement PACE, ensuring our exposure is gradual and controlled to avoid Post Exertion Malaise
• I know there will always be challenges and life will never be perfect, but we don’t know how far we can go until we get started, until we take the first step.

This is our journey unlocking our visibility! Together we can still make a difference.

Valuable resources: Action for ME and the NHS

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Visit our official website www.jak-group.co.uk

With thanks to:

Jamie York and Rob Moore

Oli Corse (Intro and outro)

purple-plant.com (Music)

braydesign.co.uk (Darren Bray – Graphics)