“Pretending to be happy when you’re in pain is just an example of how strong you are as a person.” When I first came across that quotation on Facebook, I wrote a rather clumsy post about it. Once the anger wore off, I was able to write about it in a gentler, more nuanced way. To read a less dogmatic perspective, take a look at Pretending to Feel Fine, which was published on Migraine.com today. Here’s an excerpt:
[This approach] seemed to work. I did well in school and at work, I made new friends. My friends, co-workers, bosses and even family didn’t pity me when I increasingly canceled plans, didn’t follow through on promises, or didn’t return phone calls. They merely thought I was flaky, unreliable, self-centered and uncaring. No one understood my behavior as a consequence of debilitating illness. How could they when they didn’t know how sick I was?
T I am still surprised after all these
years on how other people react to individuals
who suffer with chronic migraines. But thru
your posts and others-now realize it is just not
how others react to me-but to other fellow
migraineurs as well. And the extreme measures us
migraineurs will go thru to hide our condition.
To everyone-“Thy own self be true.
Thankyou Kerrie for this post.
Thanks for the encouragement for all of us. “Thy own self be true” is a wonderful reminder.