Mornings are my favorite time of day. I love it when the house is still dark with the smell of coffee. It’s quiet and just me and my thoughts. It is when I set my intentions for the day and give myself a minimum of five minutes, more if needed, to meditate and get ready for whatever lies ahead. It took me a long time to get to this moment so I don’t take it for granted.

Life is full of challenges and curveballs. If you aren’t ready they can hit you pretty hard. But they don’t have too. You have a couple of choices. Carry a glove and constantly look over your shoulder or learn some techniques to be ready to face anything thrown your way. I know this because I was hit from left field and not ready at all. In 2015 I was diagnosed with Lupus.

Hearing it was sort of a relief because I had years of symptoms. Random fevers, rashes from sun exposure, swollen painful joints, exhaustion, and vascular issues. I was lucky that I did not experience any internal organ damage. It is hard to diagnose and requires multiple lab tests.

Lupus is an autoimmune disease. It is chronic, so no cure, but it can be managed and you can live a healthy life. You have flares and remissions. The goal is to stay in remission for as long as you can. For a moment, I felt vindicated because for so long I felt like it was in my head. I sort of just lived in that euphoria and ignored it after that for some reason. Instead of taking medications available to me and listening to my doctors, I pushed to the extreme and became stubborn and angry.

I ended up having a serious flare in 2017, which completely changed my life. I was in bed for an entire month. My life stopped. It hurt to breathe because I had inflammation in my lungs. I dealt with fevers reaching 103.4 and joint pain so severe I could not walk without help. My supportive husband had to feed me, keep my hydrated and walk me to the bathroom. My daughter stayed with me while I showered so I would not fall over and my boys, who were away at school, spent their day calling non stop to check on me. This was defeating me.

I guess I hit rock bottom. I needed to make a choice. I could let this define the rest of my life, exhaust myself fighting against it and lose or accept it. I wanted to be a fighter and learn to live my best life. Then I realized what rock bottom really is. It is a new chance to rise to the top.

Ok. I’m in. As soon as I made my choice I felt as if a weight was lifted from my shoulders. I just let it go. I learned to listen to my body. I learned to give myself more time. I did not give up anything I loved. I just made a commitment to myself to not be upset if I needed to cancel something if my body required it. My mind, body, and soul were working together instead of against each other.

When you make a choice to see the positive in life instead of focusing on the negative you will see a light within whatever dark surrounds you. I don’t sweat the small stuff now. I appreciate the little things and will always see that glass half full. This is how I treat every day and every situation I’m faced with.

I now live a healthier, peaceful life surrounded by my husband of almost 30 years, Philip, our kids Michael, Michal, Josh, Talia, two dogs, family, and friends.

Life is good.

For additional information please visit www.lupus.org.