Brave Heart, Brave Soul. She who is brave is free.

“I am brave. I am bruised. I am who I am meant to be. THIS IS ME.” ~The Greatest Showman  Chronic illness is a pain in the butt. Especially when one comes out of left field and smacks you up side the head. There’s no nice way to say or get around it. Chronic illness is a bully. And if you have or love someone with a chronic illness, you get it. I’m not gonna sit here and tell yoo lving every day with a life altering illness is heroic. It’s not. There’s nothing romantic about it. Jamie Wingo spells it out perfectly. “It’s not just pain. It’s a complete physical, mental and emotional assault on your body.”  Chronic illness is exasperating, annoying and irksome. That’s really what it is. And yes, it can be challenging too. Most of us within the spoonie realm will tell you straight up, we prefer keeping our vexing and at times aggravating diseases out of the spotlight. We spend a lot of our time concealing our troubles. Think of it as camouflage. Not everyone needs to kno

“Fear has two meanings: Forget everything and RUN or face everything and RISE. The choice is yours.” ~Zig Ziglar  Life’s challenging. There's no sugarcoating it. I know I’m oversimplifying it, aren’t I? One day everything’s right as rain and the next? Well, let's just say, that same steady, comforting rain suddenly becomes a torrential downpour. Truth is everything about life is demanding. There’s no way around it. Life challenges us every step of the way and it rarely, if ever lets up. Even on the good days, we’re aware change is on the horizon. Really think about it. From the moment we take our first breath life confronts us with change and opposition. Like it or not, life is a crash course in the mastery of interference, difference and transformation.  And the truth is, change is necessary. Sure, we can resist it all we want but this is the thing. Change will always get its way... one way or another. Transformation happens. Can’t get around it. Change transfo