Don't let your Crohn's win. Beat the Crohn's.

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Be Your Best

A wise woman once told me to always do my best. Sometimes, my best will be getting out of bed after a night filled with pain. Other days, my best will be running a marathon. No matter what my best is that day, my Crohn's should never stop me from reaching my full potential.
I have tried to live by this advice, but I will be the first to admit the difficulties in always being my best. Some days I just want to be lazy and quit, saying that I must have gone as far as I can, but deep down knowing I could really push a bit farther. Sometimes I say that I'm looking at the big picture; that if I push myself today, I couldn't possibly do my best tomorrow.
Right now, I ask myself, why can't I be my best every single moment of the day? I think the problem so many of us have is that we compare what we are doing every single moment with everyone else out there in the world. If I compare myself to people that have been running for years, of course I will always fall short. However, I have been working on reading my own body, and trying to become satisfied with my three mile runs, realizing that that workout was truly all I could give that day.
The human inside of me wants to be better than everyone at everything. The Crohnie inside of me tells me that I need to realize that there are some things I just cannot do. But my question to myself: why do I have to base myself on others or my disease? Why can't I just be me and just be happy with whatever I do?
My goal for myself for the upcoming school year is to be happy with myself. My goal is to not look at someone else and see myself as not good enough because I am not the same as them.
I am not just a Crohnie.
I am not just a Chemistry geek.
I am not just a runner.
I am an individual. I am a beautiful kaleidoscope of mismatched hobbies and ideas that make me who I am, and I am proud of everything I have and will ever accomplish.

I challenge anyone who reads this post, should you be someone I know or a complete stranger, to love yourself for every thing you are. There is not a flaw inside any of us because each of us is amazing. Just remember to always be your best, whatever that may mean for you personally.