I am compassionate. Especially when it comes to our four legged friends/family. They are actuallly some of my favorite "people" I love and care for animals with all my heart. If I get better one day and my RA goes into remission I will absolutely volunteer at the local shelter and do whatever I can for them, walk dogs, groom the kitties, run adoption programs, etc.
Xoxo MLC.

The thing that has helped me most is that I quit fighting the pain. That's not to say that I have given up but it means that I have accepted that my pain is what it is. I feel a sense of freedom - I still have pain of course but I don't fight it.

I was on a pain management course back in March and the experts there asked us this question: Imagine that you have one end of a rope and you had the huge monster pain on the other end and this monster is pulling you closer and closer to the abyss - what would you do?

I was the ONLY person in the group to say, 'let go of the rope' everyone else said - pull harder. It took them a while to get that letting go of the rope did not mean I had given up but slowly the light dawned.

I too have a sense of humour and that helps when pain is particularly bad. I also just get on with as much of my life as I can.

I am applying to college to study for a degree, it's a 3 year full-time course. If I am consumed by my pain I will never be able to achieve my aim.

i love people......don't know if that actually falls in the strength category or not.
but it has given me...with most folks i've dealt with for any length of time
, a genuine curiosity about them..i like to "know" people.
this, in turn gives me a true concern for them.......THIS, in turn gives me
friendships that are true..........and true and honest friendship has kept me involved in life. when i don't give a rustyFU@K! for my own life...my concern for and enjoyment of my friends has been what keeps my on the forward crawl.
"strength" maybe not.......Blessing-for sure. i kow i've been in the wind here lately.........but my friends here(you know who you are) are continuously in my heart my thoughts and my prayers.
i'm not one to take my words lightly......if i don't mean em.......i don't
f#*kin say em..........so, my friends here who read this.i'm sayin it again..and meanin it with ALL of me. I Love You.
thanks.
PEACE
t

I didn't want to reply to this post until I was rested, meds right and able to articulate eloquently ....that is funny to me in it's self!

I am loyal to a fault, I love my warped sense of humor. In a crisis I can find strength I wouldn't have believed I am capable of.

Also knowing I'm still surprising myself every day means I'm still evolving unconsciously ......I love that I recognize this.

I'm a straight shooter, I can't be fake, like me or don't. I honor myself, I go where I feel celebrated not tolerated .....it took a long time to have the strength to live this way, it attracts real friends being this way.

Be true and living true, loving deeply and unconditionally.

Creativity.........wow! I feel good looking at myself deeply! Thanks x

I always find it difficult to look at myself.

My husband says I am the most optimistic person he knows. I drive him crazy when everything is going bad and I look at it from an positive angle.

I can't stop helping others. My whole life has been helping others in need. My church even has told me that I have enough on my plate with all the sickness in my family but we still try to help where we can when other's have a need.

I guess I try hard to keep the negative thoughts out and remember that others are hurting and try to put their needs first. Especially the children, they did not ask for the sad things that have happened in their lives. We try to help out at the home for children who have been physically abused and with the migrant worker's ministry.

I guess that faith, hope, and compassion are my strengths.

I am thinking back over all the bad experiences I have had in my life and the most important thing, I believe, that has helped me get through them is my determination to rise above them and to share with others in need how to overcome the obstacles in your life to make it as good as it can be.

This determination has near killed me literally as I used to push beyond my physical capabilities, but a newer strength I have developed is to also know when I need to ask for help.