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4 Things I'm Grateful for in Life With Ulcerative Colitis

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This weekend is Thanksgiving in Canada. These past couple of weeks have been rough for me, I won’t lie. I have started college and quite frankly, it’s hard. I never thought it would be easy, but it’s harder than expected. It’s been difficult making new friends and getting good grades when all you want to do is sleep. Because of the all the work I have to do, I feel exhausted and I am like a big ball of stress. Plus, I have to stay somewhat calm so I don’t have a flare-up of ulcerative colitis.

That’s why today, I thought it would be a great idea to say what I am grateful for. At this moment, it would be much easier for me to say why I am sad and whatnot. But I think that for my own benefice, I should do the opposite and remind myself what I enjoy about my life. And maybe after the long weekend, I will come back to school energized and ready to conquer everything I am faced with.

1. I am grateful for my family.

I feel like not only have I hurt myself in the past few weeks, but I have hurt my family. I was so stressed at school that when I came home, all I wanted to do was cry and scream. My family saw that I wasn’t having it, and by seeing me getting hurt, they were hurt too. But they were super patient with me and they always comforted me. They tried to reduce my stress and always made sure my UC was under control. That’s why I am grateful for them.

2. I am grateful for my doctors.

I feel so lucky that I have awesome people who can help me cope with my disease. I am grateful for my awesome psychologist, who is always the sweetest to me. I am also super grateful for my gastroenterologist. He is the best. I always (or almost always) come out of my appointment confident. Even if I have bad news, he is always there with a game plan that reassures me. He is the nicest. I am really grateful for these two.

3. I am grateful for my teachers.

What has been super amazing to me is the way my teachers, and the people who work at school, are towards my disease. Some of my old high school teachers have been there since day one and I am still in contact with them. They ask me how I am doing and I give them an honest answer. Even if I am not in high school anymore, I always feel like I get support from them. I owe them a lot. In college, it is a less personal approach, but nonetheless, my teachers are doing all they can to make my life as normal as it can be.

4. I am grateful for the chances I am given.

I have never felt that because I am sick, I can’t do what everyone else is doing. And I think that’s how you should feel. I am super happy to know that whatever I set my mind to I can do. It doesn’t mean I won’t have difficulty doing it, but at least I will be able to do pretty much what everyone is doing. I am currently doing two years of a very intense program at school. Even if it can be harder than others for me to do it, I am happy that nothing keeps me from my goal of finishing this program.

I have so many more things I am grateful for, but these are the main ones. I think what I must remember when I feel sad is that I have all the reasons listed above to be happy. They are the roots to the tree of my life. I now have to tell myself that because my tree has solid roots, the only thing I have to do is grow.

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Thinkstock photo via Detry26.

Originally published: October 9, 2017
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