The Fine Line

It seems that in life there are many fine lines. Fine and invisible lines which the world has drawn around what is acceptable as advocating for your particular cause and what is considered whinging and annoying.

For example, I can write an informative piece on my blog or Facebook page about what the challenges of living with Autoimmune disease/s are like and provided that I make sure it’s up-beat, positive and full of happy thoughts it may be considered acceptable and maybe even enjoyed, but if I write too many pieces, or leave them laden with difficult questions and issues, then I run the risk of being labeled as whinging and annoying.

There are also many fine lines that are present in social circumstances and when it comes to how many times I will be forgiven for breaking engagements or appointments and when I will no longer be invited anymore.
A fine line also exists between how long people will continue to stay in your life and when they find its too hard to maintain a friendship with a person who is almost always in pain and almost always in bed.

There is yet another fine line between how long an employer will consider you a valued employee and recognize your experience, knowledge and hard work and when they will tire of your struggling to keep up the long hours you worked before you got sick and then when they will start finding ways and means of ending your employment.

For the first few years after becoming ill you will learn where all these fine and imaginary lines are, and may try your best to learn how to live within them. You may find yourself tripping over more of these lines then you care to count, but they are always there, in every social situation, in every interaction you make and in everything you try and do.

Generally speaking we will learn where everyone else’s fine lines are. Our friends, our doctors, our employers, our families, and our body’s. However the most important lines that we may ever discover are those fine lines which is the difference between our best day and our worst. Our deepest disappointment and our proudest moment. Our rock bottom and our new beginning. Those really are the finest lines that count for those with Chronic Illnesses.

Gentle hugs,

Trish