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The Pain Story: We're Better Together & Made for More

I used to wonder: What does “living in pain” mean to the general population – those who are not living with it? After opening up in 2015, I now know. Some will judge. But many will cheer you on and join your mission to live well right where you're at, with you. Stories tie us all together.


For years, my own fear of what others would think kept me from writing about the adventure of chronic autoimmune and neuroimmune disease. But not today. Today, I'm relentlessly dedicated to sharing what it looks like to mother a Mild and a Wild as a woman who crushes, fights, and resists Chronic Fatigue Syndrome daily.

And it's not always pretty.

But, I don’t want to hide. I don’t want to be alone. I don’t want to be misunderstood. And most importantly, I don’t want you to be "broken down behind high walls either". Pain is not a part of my calling. It's not a part of yours. Yet here, in the midst of challenging days and nights and weeks and months (it's been six plus long weeks of recovery again here!) we can find strength from one another's stories as we walk with it. Like this one: I somehow built a million dollar empire while I couldn't walk up or down the stairs. I crawled, for those wondering what it really looked like back then. I spent countless hours in bed with two precious tiny kiddos, influencing my social circle online and coloring the pages of Mickey Mouse books. What have you done here that has inspired right here? Do others know your story so that you can inspire?

Had my husband not confronted my pain story in 2014, I would have never built that empire (which subsequently came crashing down as I lost my mind with a sweet Wild child - another story for another day); I would have never opened up about what it's like to be here; and I would not have thousands of friends on similar paths. This community has been my light through some really tough times. Like the one I mentioned in parenthesis with Wild above!

What my husband noticed, that I would like you to lean into today is this: Is there a discrepancy between what you show the world and how you live in it? If there is, I dare you to lean into where you're at today. Honor the lessons of the season, and perhaps start by sharing your path with a spouse or a friend. As you become increasingly brave maybe you, too, will tell the world: I am in pain - but I am still here.

The "I am still here" part matters so much.

We are better together, my sweet friends. And we are made for more than the pain we live with.

Find your people. Be with your flock. Adventure with them. It will change your life… without a doubt, it’s changing mine.

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