Month: November 2024

Choosing joy in the midst of life’s challenges and among life’s darkest hours isn’t just naive optimism. Joy is, in itself, an act of ongoing resistance – resistance to the near-overwhelmingness that threatens to lead us wandering in our journey through life, down the darkest paths.

I could choose anguish and walk through life with leaden footsteps, seeing only gray clouds, dusty roads, and empty faces, focusing on the sadness that threatens to consume all of us, if we let it.

I could choose despair and find myself without hope or any expectation of improvement. I could let hopelessness guide my days, and let loneliness overwhelm me, even in a crowded room.

Choosing joy is direct defiance against despair and hopelessness. Once you have chosen joy, you will see it everywhere – in a butterfly fluttering by, in the calm sunshine of the early morning, in a tiny, defiant flower thriving amidst a pavement crack – you will find joy even amidst the gravel and dust of everyday life.

I, for one, choose intellect over ignorance. I choose hope over desperation. I choose composure over chaos. I choose to smile rather than to grimace in pain.

There is nothing false in these choices. They are not a denial of my life’s reality. They are simply an adjustment to my reaction when faced with life’s trials.

Tragedies, struggles, hardships and challenges affect us all. We do not choose them, and we cannot avoid them. We can only choose how we react to them, and how we respond.

My response to life’s calamities is steady and enduring. Quite simply, I choose joy.

If you have a chronic illness, such as Psoriatic Arthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus, Inflammatory Bowel Disease, etc., you may have heard the term “flare” mentioned. But what is a flare?

A flare is when your chronic illness symptoms are significantly higher than is typical “for you” on a daily basis. I’ll use my psoriatic arthritis (PsA) as an example. My biologic keeps my PsA well controlled, although I still have some pain, stiffness, and swelling, I am able to function in day-to-day life. (Maybe not well, but I can basically function.)

When I have a flare (which isn’t often) my fingers become so stiff and swollen that I cannot pick up a pen, dial my phone, hold my phone, or use my computer mouse. In a flare, my back stiffens to the point I am basically unable to get out of bed or walk.

When having a flare, I contact my rheumatologist for additional medication (such as a prednisone taper) or my pain management doctor for additional medication (such as strong muscle relaxers or oxy or morphine to help deal with the extreme pain.) Technically, to be a flare, the pain or immobility of whatever joints or body parts are involved has to be significantly more than your day-to-day pain or immobility.