Wednesday Wisdom
Six years ago this September, I took a spin on our four-wheeler to my mother-in-law's house, which is a short mile from our house.
It was just turning dusk, and the hot summer day had given way to a cool evening that felt like fall. When I arrived back home and stepped into the house, I was shocked to find that my fingers had turned bright white in color.
At the time, I didn't know that this striking change was due to Secondary Raynaud’s phenomenon—and I certainly didn’t know it was the very first sign of my scleroderma journey.
That ride was the last time I got on our four-wheeler.
Living with a chronic illness often means adjusting to a "new normal," and sometimes the things we used to love get pushed to the side while we figure out how to navigate the changes. Realizing that it’s been six full years since that evening brought some heavy emotions, but it also brought a spark of determination. I decided that in order to not let scleroderma control every aspect of my life, it was finally time to get back on that four-wheeler.
Sometimes the trauma from an experience can cause us to get stuck and prevent us from moving forward. But there is something so empowering about pushing through the fear so that we can reclaim a lost part of our hearts .
It wasn't a long ride... just a quick one to break the ice. But as I took off, it felt like a huge victory. Scleroderma may have rewritten my story six years ago, but today, I took part of my freedom back. And I am so incredibly glad I did.
And just a reminder that if you're working through trauma, you aren't walking the path alone.
