Hope

I would like to share my experience developing a new physical disability and living with chronic pain with the hope to inspire hope in you.

When I first injured my back and started living with chronic pain, I started grieving the loss of my functional ability and the person I once were.

Waking up every morning and going through the day in severe pain can be exhausting and at times depressing. I no longer can play with my children the way I used to. I am not even able to take them for a nice long walk.

I shed many tears and struggled many mornings to find motivation to face the days.

But through it all, I was lucky enough to have the right supports in my life.

Counselling in particular, helped me realise that although I can no longer live my old life and do the things I once could, there was still much more to life to focus on. Instead of focusing on what I lost, I started to place my focus on the new things I could try. The support helped me view my circumstances with a new perspective. I started thinking about the lessons my experience could teach me.

I will not lie and pretend that I am living the perfect life now. I certainly still struggle some days but overall I am enjoying life and the things I can still do.

I wanted to share my experience to try and share hope.

No matter what challenges you are facing at the moment there is always hope. With the right supports in place, you can find your hope, strengths and motivation to find the way towards a better quality of life.