Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and like most other Americans who celebrate this holiday, I like to reflect on the people and things for which I am grateful. Looking back at my older Thanksgiving posts (you can reread them here, here, here, and here), not much has changed; I’m still just as grateful — if not more so — for my family and friends, health and home, work clients and blog readers, and, of course, a plethora of bourgeois luxuries and amenities. I mean, who isn’t grateful for legging with pockets and Amazon Prime benefits at Whole Foods?
But it’s not just my new workout clothes and old friends. There are so many new people who’ve touched my life this year, including new gym friends and instructors, a fantastic functional medicine doctor, and a wonderful therapist. All have helped me to embrace my strengths and grow from my weaknesses. Leaning more into my power allowed me to reposition this blog and finally create my new business site, laurendeweytarr.com. It also led me to AutoimmuneSisters.org, an online community for autoimmune warriors like me, for whom I will now be writing.
Yesterday, my first piece for AutoimmuneSisters.org was published. It was a Thanksgiving piece about being grateful instead of bitter for all the things my autoimmune disease has given me. [You can read the full article here.] The tone of that site is a bit more serious than I like to be on my own blog, so the article is as well. But this is Lauren in Charge, so I’m taking the opportunity here to expand on my reasoning — in typical sassy, midlife moxie style. If any of you have a chronic illness and struggle to find the good in it, I’m here to help with my no-holds-barred, fresh take on why it’s not all bad.
As I explained in the AutoimmuneSisters article, the disease I have — Hashimoto’s — took half my thyroid, my metabolism, the ability to digest a myriad of favorite foods, my menstrual cycle and bone mass, my energy, and some of my hair (on my head, eyebrows, and elsewhere!), in exchange for a lifetime prescription for medication, extra weight, joint pain, neuropathy, extreme fatigue and brain fog, wild mood swings, and a low tolerance for stress and illness. Not exactly an even trade.
Over time, I learned that the disease isn’t just about what it’s taken because it has given me so much more — the passion to live a healthier life, the strength to fight for my needs, the grace to give myself time, and the power to make change. All of this I wrote about in the AutoimmuneSisters article.
What I didn’t talk about are all the subsequent Hashimoto’s side effects for which I am truly grateful. Bonus benefits, as I call them, like
- not having a period any more (score!)
- never having to wax my eyebrows (money saved)
- not having to shave my legs as often (time saved)
- having a medical explanation for my mood swings (good to know I’m not just a crazy bitch!)
- having a valid reason to stay home frequently (a plus for us introverts)
- discovering my love of weights (resistance training for bone strength)
- learning that I actually like tons of vegetables (who knew?)
- finally being cured of my sweet tooth (which helped with that extra weight issue)
Yes, having a chronic disease still sucks — especially during a flare-up. But if you flip the script and look at it from a different angle, you can find the upside. You just have to look.
So this Thanksgiving, in addition to my wonderfully supportive (albeit sometimes annoying) family, fantastic friends (old and new), loyal readers, generous clients, caring doctors and therapist, and an abundance of privilege and accessories, I am adding my disease to my long gratitude list. Without it, there probably wouldn’t be as much moxie and muscle in this midlife — just more hair.
-LJDT
