Six years later and 350 posts and this thing is still going! It seems like just yesterday that I wrote my first post for this blog but you blink and time just passes in an instant. I was looking through some of my older posts, and so much has changed over that time in this very personal battle with my CRPS. I’ve met so many people as I’ve been on this journey, and I wanted to take a minute to say thanks for all the support and encouragement. Especially knowing that some of you are in that same fight right along with me! Its that support and knowing that we aren’t alone in all of this that gets us through those really hard days.

Its hard to believe the amount of time that’s gone by, and some days it seems like double that amount of time. As each day goes by I gain more hope and confidence that doctors will find a cure for the illness that tries to tear apart peoples lives bit by bit. I’m reminded in a heartbeat just how cruel this disease can be whenever my pain gets really bad. The difference now though is that I’ll never let it defeat me! God has my back through all of this and fear has no hold over what I can or can’t do within my life. Don’t think for a minute that fear hasn’t been a factor as I’ve had to deal with my CRPS because it most definitely has. The difference is that I’ve decided to not let it take root in my life.

Once again the plan was to finish this post yesterday but as has happened before my brain goes into shutdown! Its frustrating because I have so much to write. With this illness however there are days where it hurts to think, and I mean that in the literal sense!! Its one of those times where my pain is bad causing lots of mental blocks, and I’ve had to learn not to fight it. You’ve heard all this before so there’s no need to really get into it!!

Before I get too far off topic I’d better get things back on course. In this post I really wanted to speak towards fear because it can have such a grip on a persons life. I’ve posted about this topic before but only because I speak to so many people who deal with it as they try to manage their way through a chronic illness. Its one of those topics that is so important if your going to be able to move forward in your own personal journey against your illness. Fear is one of those things that tries to find a way in through any crack it can, and it doesn’t take much for it to take a stronghold in your life. Do you allow fear to take you down a road you don’t want to go?

Life in general throws all kinds of curve balls at you and some of those involve fear. When you add chronic illness to the mix everything is more complex. Fear makes itself more present because it has more of an oportunity to do so. As long as this illness affects my life then there will always be fear that tries to creep into my life and take me down a path I don’t want or need to go down. I’ve made the hard decision however that fear doesn’t have any place in my life and that with Gods help I can keep it away.  Even after my my most recent surgery I had to spend time blocking out some of those questions that fear can attach itself to.

I’ve always been straight forward and honest about my feelings on my site and I’m not going to stop now. When fear tries to show up in my life I pull out the biggest weapon that I have! GOD! Whenever there is any type of fear that tries to show itself in my life I give it to God and He always sets me free of it. So ask yourself one question tonight. Does fear have a stronghold on your life as you deal with your chronic illness?