You! Yes, you!
You, my many disorders,
You will not
take any more of me
than you already have.
You will not
make me into anything
I do not choose to be.
You will not
make me any older
than the years I’ve
lived.
You will not
steal my energy
that gives me life.
You will not
keep me from
enjoying
and
celebrating
new life entering
into this crazy world.
You will not
stop me from basking
in the light
of
this new life.
For you see,
YOU are not
the boss
of ME!
Those of us living with Vestibular Disorders, our world can change from day to day, hour to hour, sometimes minute to minute. We can wake up feeling fine, maybe good enough to make plans, so we do. “That sounds like fun, let’s do it”! Then as you’re getting ready, ‘it’ hits you. Maybe you turned around too fast, closed your eyes while washing your hair, or a simple hair flip (because you look that good!), or your trigger set off the spins. Sometimes, I know exactly what caused it, others I have no idea. Such simple, everyday tasks or movements that the day before (an hour before!) gave you no problems.
This is probably the part I hate the most…canceling the plans I just made. I cancel more plans than I am able to follow through with. My friend is then left thinking, “But, I just talked to you and you were fine”. After a while, I’m just not asked any longer. I don’t blame them and I no longer blame myself. I did that for a long time, then one day it hit me, why am I blaming myself for something I never wanted or asked for? I realized that my self-loathing behavior was only making everything worse for me. It certainly added nothing to my life, so I stopped. Oh, it was a process, of course. Once I learned to love myself in spite of all I deal with, my world changed for the better.
I try to find something to be grateful for every day, which is difficult on one of ‘those’ days. I am thankful for all my days because the fact is, you never know what that day may bring. It could be something great and I want to experience it, if possible. On a ‘good’ day, my gratitude will just flow like a river! A ‘bad’ day? It gets very basic, “I am grateful to be alive”…”P.S. I wish I wasn’t dizzy today”!
sneezemedizzy 
Hi, Sheri! I apologize for my delay in responding, our daughter is having her first baby tomorrow! She’s high-risk and it’s been a wild ride…Thank you so much for your kind words, I really appreciate comments! I happy to hear though that you’re still able to work. One of the saddest days of my life was the day I resigned as a Pediatric COTA…
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Thank you for this! Nails it perfectly! While I have suffered for years with dizziness and balance problems, it’s only gotten worse in the last year with a few severe vertigo episodes. Springtime allergies seem to make it a lot worse. I am a second grade teacher, 55 years young with approximately five years left before I retire. Some days are easier than others. LIke it says, you just never know from one minute to the next on some days.
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