Jane M. Martin

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Take a look. I hope it gives you something to think about and brightens your day. Sometimes we just have to make our own sun.

You're Still You - Renewal and Rediscovery with COPD

We might say that as people with COPD [or another chronic lung disease] we have been given a bad sentence, dealt a difficult hand to play. Yet, we have more reason than just about anyone to see emotional growth and acceptance...

Throughout the coping process that comes with any chronic disease, we confront terror, loss, rage...all kinds of emotional pain. But when we are able to face both loss and fear of the unknown, we’re on our way to achieving some level of renewal. In finding this strength and facing the dreads of disease we learn that having this disease is not so overwhelming after all.

Renewal is like finding ourselves again. It is the same self but in new circumstances – yes, with constraints to handle, but with the tools to continue on regardless of changes and loss of ability to do things we once loved.

Renewal is not passive. It is a changing attitude towards our relationship with COPD, born of all our past struggles. Each day brings new challenges, and through this, we learn to set and reset our priorities in such a way that the limitations of our disease no longer define us.

With renewal comes discovery... knowing that we are the same people we always were. Simply, I’m the same me – but a me with COPD. Instead of focusing on what our disease makes us, it can become more a matter of "Who do we choose to be, given our limitations?" Yes, we have a choice! It is entirely possible to be physically disabled, or we may call it “limited,” without being emotionally handicapped...

taken from Live Your Life with COPD - 52 Weeks of Health, Happiness and Hope