Walking down these paths of chronic illness, pain and trauma can bring many “What the heck” moments. Things don’t line up, they don’t make sense, they don’t appear as we think we should see them. It is so easy to look at this photo and say there is no possible way that this is real. What the heck… what if it is real? What if, while we are so ill and dealing with trauma, we cannot always see everything that is real?
The photo does not look real to me either, but…. The claim is that it is authentic. Ok, so maybe it is. August 21, 2017 we really did have a solar eclipse. And there are a lot of talented photographers out there with skills I have never dreamed of. I am going to believe the claim that this is real and get lost in the wonderment of it.
Sometimes we have to get past our, “What the heck” to see what is waiting for us if we just keep moving forward.
Trauma in the midst of chronic illness and pain distort our vision. Sometimes in a good way. Sometimes it helps to realign our vision so we can see beyond “What the heck.” Let’s pretend that I could prove this photo is real (which that is the claim). Sometimes we get so beat up by our trauma and illness that we see things with a realignment that others cannot see. We finally can see past the muck. We can see the path, see the light that guides us through our trauma and health journey. We can see how the moon and the sun can line up so we can take the next steps. What if…?
I choose to accept that life and all the trials we face can realign how we see everything. There is beauty in this realignment so we don’t stumble on “What the heck!”
I would not wish trauma and chronic illness on my worse enemy, it has felt like a living hell at times. Since I am here dealing with it, I might as well grow within the journey of it all, finding the good through the hardest of journeys.
There are too many days that trauma and illness come crashing in on us. For today, I will see the beauty and wonderment of this journey.
Do you have days that you can see the journey more clearly even though it does not look like it could be real?
Maribeth Baxter, MBEC
Donations are accepted to serve others on their chronic illness journey. Maribeth Baxter, MBEC provides voluntary certified health coaching services to the financially limited during their time of crisis.
