Kathryn A. Frazier
Your Story. Your voice. the best it can be.
Hi, I’m Kathy and I have a headache.
As I said in my last post, I’ve been working a lot lately. With so much extra work, I got behind in blogging, but I didn’t forget the Year to Conquer Fear. I promise to tell you what scary things I’ve been conquering over the summer very soon. I couldn’t miss the opportunity to share National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week, though.
Hi, I’m Kathy and I have a headache. Bet you can’t see it.
Nearly half of all Americans live with some kind of chronic illness or pain. 96% of all chronic illnesses are invisible. That means you can’t see it. No cast, wheelchair or whatever announces the person is sick. Invisible chronic illnesses include things like diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, heart disease, lupus, fibromyalgia, etc. I have chronic migraines along with other headaches. My head hurts pretty much all the time.
National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week is September 9-15, 2013.
Someone once asked me what the worst part of having an invisible chronic illness has been for me. At the time, I didn’t have an adequate answer. To be honest, I never thought of it in those terms before that day. All I could think of was: Pain. Duh.
After giving it some thought, I’ve come up with an answer. My answer is: That’s a terrible question! It started me thinking about and meditating over all of the bad things in my life. In the words of Sweet Brown, “Ain’t nobody got time for that!” I wonder why he didn’t ask, “What brings you joy these days?”
The Bible says, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” (Philippians 5:8, NIV). I choose to think about uplifting things. I choose to look for joy.
If you or someone you love lives with chronic illness or pain, join Rest Ministry’s live chat on Facebook http://facebook.com/invisibleillnessweek at 11 AM Pacific/2 PM Eastern time, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of this week (Sept. 9-12, 2013). If you miss the live chat, you can still go back and read the posts and comment. If you don’t live with chronic illness or pain, check out this fun video of things *not* to say to someone who does.
Do you live with invisible chronic illness or pain or love someone who does? What positive things do you choose for your life?
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Kathryn A. Frazier 
Awesome as always!