Sharing.

This morning as I was considering sharing a quote from the Invisible Awareness Week Facebook page, I found myself once again having an internal battle with myself about whether I should or not. I spend a vast majority of my time making it appear to everyone around me that I am not sick. And I don’t want to become “that” person who constantly is posting stuff on facebook about illness like a big sign on my forehead saying “Don’t forget I’m sick!”…but at the same time this event comes once a year, and aside from posting about my blog there aren’t many times I do post about these things. 

Social media has become this massive platform for sharing everything with the entire world. And what once was just a medium for sharing what you had for lunch today or using emoticons to share your every feeling, can now be used to spread messages – whether they be positive or negative. More and more I’m seeing pictures of children’s classrooms matched with captions from teachers begging the image to be shared so that children can see the vast impact one picture they post can have on the internet and how many people see it. What an incredible opportunity to spread a message! If I’ve been given this platform, and can raise awareness for not only my invisible illnesses, but others as well – why shouldn’t I? And if people get tired of me posting stuff 1 month out of the year, then they don’t have to read it! Granted this argument can also be said for sharing things about faith and spreading the message of God’s love on this amazing platform we’ve been given – but that’s another can of worms for another time.

Just the other day I had a conversation with a friend who is aware of my medical struggles, and she had met someone else who had an invisible illness. And she had the revelation that I wish so many other people would have – you can look completely fine on the outside, and a hot mess on the inside. So many people are fighting battles we know nothing about, and looking at them will not show you all the battle wounds they have on the inside. Nearing every other person on the planet is struggling with a chronic condition, 96% of which are invisible. This week/month are such an important time to raise awareness about it so that millions of people can finally be heard and know that there are so many of us supporting them and we believe that it’s real and not in their head (something we get told A LOT). 

So if you get tired of seeing my posts – I don’t know what to tell you other than to keep scrolling. Not only is this message something I’m passionate about, and this is the only way I know how to help; but this is also a huge growing experience for me. Posting the quotes I see that ring true in my heart, or writing about the daily struggles I try so hard to hide is extremely hard. It puts me in an incredibly vulnerable place and I’m voluntarily allowing people to see my weak spot and opening a door for them to either hit it or embrace it. And I know that God works the most in valleys and in weak spots, so this is also an opportunity for Him to be glorified through this life that He has given me, even if I don’t see the purpose or reason behind it yet. 

This week/month of intentional awareness isn’t about me. It’s about all of us. We just want to be heard and taken seriously. It’s not all our story is about, but it’s a big part that we want to share.