The hardest thing in the world is to be upset about something and be unable to change it, but what is that one thing is the inside of your body? No I am not talking about weight or what you eat. I am talking about having a disease inside you that will completely take your life and turn it upside down at the worst time possible and without any type of permission. You struggle to be happy and look normal despite the fact that everything is a mess and at any second you could need to be medicated in your bed or even worse back in the ER desperate for a doctor to listen to you.

Until I became sick, I had no idea that there were so many people that faced these struggles everyday without speaking up about them. They take their medicine, go to work, pray their symptoms stay in check, and then go home and try to rest as much as possible because just average living is more exhausting than you will ever know. No one understands the mental toll being in pain or not having control of your body has on you. Almost every medicine you will take will likely increase any existing depression and don't forget the anxiety you already have with just going out and trying to pretend you are fine. So on top of the sickness and the doctors appointments, you have to somehow find time to go to therapy and get another medication to help that side effect. It is a never ending battle that you are forced to think about almost every waking moment of the day.

So how do people live this way? You may say they have no quality of life. You may say they should just rest and stop trying to work because it will make their symptoms worse. But that is the complete opposite of what the chronically ill community does. Through support groups, I have discovered that those who are chronically ill are the strongest, most determined people that you will ever meet, and most of the time you will meet them and they will be so good at faking you won't even know they are chronically ill. We need to start supporting chronically ill as a community instead of out casting them. Stop judging people who you think don't look handicapped for using their handicap parking or for needing to sit down while standing for too long or for being so picky about what comes in their meal at a restaurant. They are doing the best they can and the last thing they need is slack from someone who is ignorant about what could be wrong with them. Be more open to the fact that not everyone you see who looks healthy is. Be open to the idea that some people need more help than others. Be open to the fact that some are facing a horrific mental battle and your one rude comment could cause them to break down. Invisible illness is real and all around you. Please stop and think maybe someone cannot do the same as you before judging them. Maybe even try helping those you know are suffering. Just because they act and look like they are fine, does not mean that they are.