Welcome everyone to another instalment of the ’12 Days of Being Chronically Thankful’ in which I share some of the things that I am thankful for (based on given categories – see above) despite living with a chronic illness.

Today, on the 8th Day of Christmas, I was thankful for…a poem!  Now I am not really a huge fan of poetry, and there are only a few that I am familiar with.  But if I were to choose one which inspires me then I would choose ‘If You Think You Are Beaten’ by the writer Walter D. Wintle:

I love the poem as it is a reminder that we must all believe in ourselves and how we see our selves is the most important – rather than believing in what other people think of us.  It is so easy when living with a chronic illness is to think and act like a victim, but as the poem suggests we should rather act like a victor and challenge aspects of ourselves and our conditions to be winners in whatever we do; to do things that we may never thought were possible due to certain limitations.  It’s all about attitude and our view of self as well as overcoming challenges that will inevitably face everyone.

And for that I am thankful!